The Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour study (NLHBS)

Project leader: Bente Wold
Research group:  SIPA, HEMIL-senteret
Funding: : Research Council of Norway, Norwegian Council for Mental Health, L. Meltzers Høyskolefond, National Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIFA) and the Norwegian Cancer Society.
Partners: University of Oslo (Institutt for samfunnsernæring, Institute of Psychology), Norwegian Institute of Public Health, UniResearch Bergen.
Project period:  January 1990 – ongoing

Data collections

During autumn 1990, 1195 13-year-olds and their parents were randomly sampled from schools in Hordaland Fylke. They were invited to participate in a broad study on health. Since then, nine waves of data collections have followed - spanning 27-years in total - from age 13 to age 40. Parents participated from 1990 to 1996. 45,6% of the sample in 1990 were girls.

The dataset covers a wide range of variables, including depressive tendencies, self-esteem, body-image, life satisfaction, bullying, physical activity, criminal behavior, sexual development, eating habits, substance use, peer relations, parental relations, social support, living circumstances, life events, educational attainment, income level etc.

Purpose

The largest public health problems in the western world are intimately associated with people’s health habits and lifestyle. In particular, there are four health habits that are considered strong risk factors for common diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, depression and muscle disorders. These four health habits are: physical inactivity, unhealthy eating habits, smoking and substance abuse (e.g., drugs, alcohol). An effective reduction of these risk factors would contribute significantly to reduce illness and morality in the population. Preventive efforts and health promotion in this area must target the causes of unhealthy habits, therefore, we need to get a better understanding of why people smoke, are physically inactive and eat unhealthy. Better knowledge will enable policy makers as well as health organizations and practitioners to develop more effective initiatives to prevent common lifestyle diseases.

Issues in focus

1. How does health behaviors (e.g., eating habits, physical activity, substance use) change throughout the life course (from age 13 to 40), and how are specific health behaviors associated with each other?
2. What is the interplay between social and psychological factors in the development of health habits over time?
3. To what extent, do children inherent their parents’ lifestyle and health habits and is this inheritance conditioned on social inequality in society and psychosocial relations in the family?