Public Health Insights

The COVID-19 pandemic has varied substantially depending on where you live and on one’s personal characteristics and behaviors. The history of the pandemic in our region (southern MN and southwestern WI) will be reviewed, highlighting work by the Mayo Clinic study team that used the Rochester Epidemiology Project to characterize changes in the pandemic over time, and to identify risk factors for severe infections. The importance of three components of primary prevention will be discussed as we move into the next phases of the pandemic: vaccination and vaccine hesitancy, masking and social distancing, and healthy behaviors, particularly maintaining a balanced diet, physical activity, and moderate alcohol use.

Jennifer St. Sauver, M.P.H., Ph.D. is a Professor of Epidemiology in the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and Science. She received her M.P.H. and Ph.D. degrees in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan. After graduation, she joined Mayo Clinic as a Collaborative Scientist in 1999. She is an epidemiologic methodologist, with extensive experience in the design and conduct of observational research studies. In particular, she is Co- Principal Investigator of the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP), a unique research infrastructure that captures healthcare information from multiple providers for the population of southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. As a collaborative scientist, she has worked with a wide range of investigators to leverage this resource to address many different health related questions. Her current research focuses on using the REP to understand the impact and outcomes of multiple chronic conditions at the population level. She is also an affiliate member of the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, with specific interest in community-based interventions to improve population health.

How can we promote good health and well-being in children and adolescents? Identifying these factors is the main aim of the Trondheim Early Secure Study, a longitudinal cohort study conducted in Norway. Capturing mental health, psychosocial development, and health behavior, we have biennially and thoroughly assessed nearly a thousand participants and their parents and teachers since the children were 4 years of age. The 8th wave of data collection is ongoing (age 18). In the presentation, an overview of findings related to eating behavior, physical activity and sleep will be presented. Factors predicting such health behavior will be discussed, as will relevant outcomes of these behaviors.

Silje Steinsbekk, Ph.D., is professor in clinical child and adolescent psychology, and co-PI of the Trondheim Early Secure Study (TESS). TESS started in 2007 and comprises a sample of 1,250 children drawn from the 2003 and 2004 birth cohorts and their parents in Trondheim, Norway. In depth data (interviews, questionnaires, tests, and observations) has been collected every second year since the children were 4 years old—from participants, parents and teachers. The eight datawave started in February 2022, the participants now being 18 years old. The goal of the study is to determine the prevalence and course of common mental health problems, and to detail potential etiological factors. The TESS also aims to describe children’s typical development and determinants of individual differences in different aspects of development, such as personality, attachment, parent-child relationships, social and academic competence, self-concept, behavioral and emotional regulation, sexuality, cognition, physical activity, eating, sleep, internet gaming and social media use. Steinsbekk’s main research areas are development of health behavior, weight, mental health and social media use.