PromoKids webinar 2025
BMI and Beyond – Childhood health promotion in the Nordic countries
Time:
Friday, September 19th, 2025
- 9.30–16.15 (CET)
- 10.30–17.15 (EET)
- 7.30–14.15 (UTC)
Place:
The event for audience is a webinar. Live event is only for speakers and invited participants at Nordic Welfare.
Please register for the webinar by September 16th, 2025:
Agenda:
9.30 – 9.40
Welcome to the venue
Kai Koivumäki, Nordic Welfare Centre
9.40-9.45
Welcome from PromoKids steering group, Agenda and the purpose of the PromoKids network
Lauren Lissner, University of Gothenburg, Sweden and Liselotte Schäfer Elinder, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
9.45-10.25
The Nordic Welfare Centre and work on children and young people
Clara Sommarin, Merethe Løberg and Pia Nevala Westman, Nordic Welfare Centre
10.25 – 10.40
Break
Session 1. Public health actions on the food, physical activity and media environment
Chair: Heli Kuusipalo, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland
10.40-11.00
WHO perspective: Nutrition Promotion with a life course approach
Kremlin Wickramasinghe, WHO Europe
11.00-11.10
New report from Sweden: Society needs to promote consumption of a healthy diet for children and youth
Lena Hansson, Nora Döring and Anna Jansson, Swedish Public Health Agency, Sweden
11.10-11.20
The digital food environment of teens in Iceland
Ingibjörg Kjartansdottir, University of Iceland, Iceland
11.20-11.30
Norwegian legislations for healthier food environments: Ban on marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children under 18 years and on sale of energy drinks to children under 16 years – an update
Liv Elin Torheim, Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, Norway
11.30-11.40
Finland's new guidelines on food marketing targeting to children
Maijaliisa Erkkola, University of Helsinki, Finland
11.40-11.50
Progress in fieldwork on physical activity and food environment for children across municipalities and regions in Sweden
Matti Leijon, GenPep, Sweden
11.50-12.00
Danish recommendations for children’s screen use in leisure time
Tue Kristensen, Danish Health Authority, Denmark
12.00-13.15
LUNCH
Session 2. Research reports on healthy lifestyle among children
Chair: Anna Sigríður Ólafsdóttir, University of Iceland, Landspitali-University Iceland and Uppsala University Sweden
13.15-13.30
Causes and consequences of physical inactivity in children
Eero Haapala, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
13.30-13.45
CHAMPS – a natural experiment to promote physical activity in school children
Mina Nicole Holmgaard Händel, the Parker Institute, Denmark
13.45-14.00
The Co-fam study from Sweden – co-design of universal and targeted family support for obesity prevention and treatment
Ida Karlsson, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
14.00-14.15
Health Journey: Icelandic 1988 Cohort Study - tracking changes in physical, mental, and social health across three key life stages
Nanna Yr Arnardottir, University of Akureyri, Iceland
14.15-14.30
A population-based study focusing on children and adolescents’ health behaviours and growth in Finnmark, Norway
Eirik Lind Irgens, Finnmark Hospital Trust/UiT the Arctic University of Norway
14.30-14.45
Break
Session 3. Panel- Importance of child health promotion in the era of obesity medication
Chair: Petur Benedikt Juliusson, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital, Norway
14.45-14.55
Introduction: Entering an era of effective obesity medications
Petur Benedikt Juliusson, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital, Norway
14.55-16.15
Panel discussion- Importance of child health promotion in the era of obesity medication
Panelists: Annika Janson (pediatrician, Sweden), Antti Saari (pediatrician, Finland), Ragnar Grímur Bjarnason (pediatrician, Iceland), Birgitte Johanne Schmidt (pediatrician, Denmark)
Questions to discuss:
- Short update on the current use of obesity medication in childhood from each country
- How does medication use influence the perceived need of health promotion – a win-win or win-lose?
- How can we avoid stigmatization?
Closing 16.15
