The PANIC Study in brief

The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study is a long-term lifestyle intervention and follow-up study of a population-based cohort of 504 children who were 7–9 years of age at baseline. Participants have been followed prospectively from childhood into adulthood, complemented by retrospective data extending to fetal life. The study comprises extensive multimodal, life-course data spanning fetal life to adulthood (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01803776; PANIC metadata on Zenodo).

Participants were first examined in mid-childhood in 2007–2009, with follow-up assessments conducted in late childhood in 2009–2011, adolescence in 2015–2017, and early adulthood in 2024–2026. The PANIC Fat Biopsy Study was conducted as part of the early-adulthood follow-up in 2024–2026. The next follow-up is planned for 2028–2030, when participants will be 27–29 years of age.

The PANIC Study is conducted at the Institute of Biomedicine, School of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland (UEF), in collaboration with researchers from other units of UEF, Kuopio University Hospital, and several national and international universities, hospitals, and research institutes. The Principal Investigator is Timo A. Lakka, MD, PhD, Professor of Medical Physiology, Specialist in Internal Medicine, and Adjunct Professor of Public Health (Connect; PubMed).

The PANIC Study aims to investigate:

  1. Risk factors and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying chronic diseases and conditions—including obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, cognitive disorders, osteoporosis, mental health disorders, oral diseases, and chronic pain—from fetal life to adulthood.
  2. The effects of physical activity, diet, and other lifestyle factors on these diseases and conditions and their modifiable risk factors from childhood to adulthood.
  3. How genetic, developmental, and environmental factors modify the effects of physical activity, diet, and other lifestyle factors on these diseases and conditions and their modifiable risk factors across the life course.
  4. Factors influencing health care utilization and costs, and the cost-effectiveness of lifestyle interventions and other strategies for the prevention of chronic diseases and conditions.