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This qualitative study investigates health care practitioners’ approaches to early childhood obesity in Denmark and their view on their own ability to initiate processes of change in affected families, and it asks the overall question of whether perceived barriers become real through practitioners’ reluctance to intervene in families labelled as ´problematic’. The paper identifies three approaches in the practitioners’ narratives: the socially oriented, the individually oriented, and the mixed. The individually oriented approach was based on a logic resembling individualistic explanatory models of behaviour change, and was related to a positive perspective on their own ability to move families towards healthier habits by health care practitioners. The socially oriented approach borrowed elements from a sociological perspective, which seemed to lead to resigned pessimism in the face of the complexity of the problem of childhood overweight and a reluctance to address early childhood overweight in some families. In practitioners of all three types, widespread cultural essentialism was found. Non-western, ethnic minority background was seen as determining family habits and making preventive action especially difficult. Based on this, the current paper discusses whether individual actions and choices are being ascribed too much explanatory power, and the health system's biased perceptions too little. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the relationship between ‘the stranger’ and the spatial formations of the city and the nation in a dual sense. On the one hand, it discusses the construction of the stranger as a figure, both generally and in relation to formation of the city and the nation in particular. On the other hand, it explores the experiences and practices of people designated as ‘strangers’, that is, the experiences and feelings arising in the multiplicity of everyday signifying encounters and the possibilities of identification afforded by the city and the nation respectively. This twofold aim is pursued through an integrated reading of literature on the stranger and material from an interpretative analysis performed in Copenhagen among citizens of Pakistani origin. The main point argued throughout the paper is that it is not possible to simply ‘be’ a stranger; you become a stranger through specific, embodied encounters. The stranger is a relational figure, constituted in a spatial ambivalence between proximity and distance, and in this way he/she can take different shapes and different roles depending on the context in which it is performed. This indeterminacy shows in the empirical analysis, where the stranger takes a very different role within the nation and the city and in some sense helps to differentiate between the qualities of these two spatial formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This paper examines the importance of recruitment site in relation to the recruitment of ethnic minorities into health research. It presents a synthesis of experiences drawn from six interlinked Danish studies which applied different methods and used healthcare facilities and educational settings as sites for recruitment. Methods: Inspired by interpretive reviewing, data on recruitment methods from the different studies were synthesized with a focus on the various levels of recruitment success achieved. This involved an iterative process of comparison, analysis and discussion of experiences among the researchers involved. Results: Success in recruitment seemed to depend partly on recruitment site. Using healthcare facilities as the recruitment site and healthcare professionals as gatekeepers was less efficient than using schools and employees from educational institutions. Successful study designs also depended on the possibility of singling out specific locations with a high proportion of the relevant ethnic minority target population. Conclusions:The findings, though based on a small number of cases, indicate that health professionals and healthcare institutions, despite their interest in high-quality health research into all population groups, fail to facilitate research access to some of the most disadvantaged groups, who need to be included in order to understand the mechanisms behind health disparities. This happens despite the genuine wish of many healthcare professionals to help facilitate such research. In this way, the findings indirectly emphasize the specific challenge of accessing more vulnerable and sick groups in research studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most European countries ethnic minorities have had a tendency to settle in certain parts of cities—and often in social housing—together with other immigrants in so-called multi-ethnic neighbourhoods. An explanation for this could be low income combined with lack of knowledge of the housing market and discrimination, which limits the housing possibilities for ethnic minorities. Another explanation could be that for different reasons immigrants choose to settle in so-called ethnic enclaves where they can find an ethnic social network, which can support them in their new country. In traditional research literature about immigration it has been shown that for many immigrants living in enclaves has been a temporary situation. The 'spatial assimilation theory' says that this situation ends when the family has become more integrated in the new society and then moves to another part of the city. This paper provides evidence to support both explanations of why ethnic minorities move to and from multi-ethnic neighbourhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: A key issue in public health is how to approach ethnic inequities. Despite an increased focus on the health of people from ethnic minorities in the last 15 years, significant ethnic health inequities still exist in Denmark. These arise during pregnancy and are exacerbated by higher rates of exposure to health risks during the life course. This study aimed to formulate recommendations on both structural and organisational levels to reduce ethnic health inequities. Methods: Nine decision-makers – representing municipalities, regions, the private sector and voluntary organisations in Denmark – participated in the formulation of recommendations inspired by the Delphi method. The consensus process was conducted in three rounds during spring 2020, resulting in eight overall recommendations, including suggestions for action. Results: The recommendations address both structural and organisational levels. They aim to strengthen: 1) health policies and strategies related to the needs of people from ethnic minorities, including health literacy, linguistic, cultural and social differences; 2) health-promoting local initiatives developed in co-creation with people from ethnic minorities; 3) health promotion and prevention from a life course perspective with a focus on early intervention; 4) cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaborations that facilitate transitions and coordination; 5) competencies of professionals in terms of cultural knowledge, awareness, reflexivity and skills; 6) access to healthcare services by increasing information and resources; 7) interpreting assistance for, and linguistic accessibility to, healthcare services; 8) documentation and intervention research. Conclusions: To reduce ethnic health inequities, it is crucial that Danish welfare institutions, including their strategies, approaches and skills of employees, are adapted to serve an increasingly heterogeneous population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a qualitative interview study, this article focuses on the everyday organization of family life in Denmark among ethnic minority parents with Pakistani, Turkish, Palestinian and Iraqi backgrounds, with a particular view to the quotidian resource management of time and money within intimate parent–child relationships. Through this focus on how the parents prioritize their everyday time and financial resources from an intergenerational perspective, the article explores the motivations and reasoning behind such arrangements of family life—including how they reflect parents' visions for their children's future lives. While it applies a time-use and consumption perspective to examine mundane family lives, as opposed to, for instance, a social integration perspective, the analysis nonetheless reveals how Danish policy and public debate on the "integration" of ethnic minorities directly and in detail shapes the quotidian orchestration of family life and its intimate relations. This translates into a highly concrete, everyday concern with and attentiveness towards "integration" among the parents. This attentiveness towards the Danish integration debate haunts the parents' sense of self. Moreover, I argue that it materializes in routinized family life practices, strongly shaping the innermost private sphere of mundane parental choices regarding the day-to-day management of time and money, and in the everyday strategies for the next generation's future belonging in Denmark expressed in this management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has highlighted the harmful effects of targeted police practices and the subsequent low trust in the police among ethnic minorities. However in spite of this research, there still exists a relative lack of knowledge on the day-to-day relations between ethnic minority youth and the police and on the perceptions that ethnic minorities have of procedural justice. Furthermore, comparative and cross-nation research is needed. This study, using data from 121 in-depth interviews, investigates how ethnic minority youth living in Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden describe policing practices. Our findings indicate that descriptions were quite similar in each of the four Nordic countries. While on the one hand, ethnic minority youth felt suspected by the police for no justifiable reason, thereby creating strong feelings of procedural injustice and unfairness, on the other hand, they described encounters, where they felt protected by the police and in general trusted the institution of the police. As such ambiguity has often been neglected, this article highlights the positive perceptions of the police but also argues that targeted police practices can undermine notions of procedural justice, trust in policing and a sense of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives.The participation rate in the Danish National Health Survey (DNHS) 2010 was significantly lower among ethnic minorities than ethnic Danes. The purpose was to characterize nonresponse among ethnic minorities in DNHS, analyze variations in item nonresponse, and investigate barriers and incentives to participation. Design.This was a mixed-method study. Logistic regression was used to analyze nonresponse using data from DNHS (N= 177,639 and chi-square tests in item nonresponse analyses. We explored barriers and incentives regarding participation through focus groups and cognitive interviews. Informants included immigrants and their descendants of both sexes, with and without higher education. Results.The highest nonresponse rate was for non-Western descendants (80.0%) and immigrants 25 (72.3%) with basic education. Immigrants and descendants had higher odds ratios (OR = 3.07 and OR = 3.35, respectively) for nonresponse than ethnic Danes when adjusted for sex, age, marital status, and education. Non-Western immigrants had higher item nonresponse in several question categories. Barriers to non-participation related to the content, language, format, and layout of both the questionnaire and the cover letter. The sender and setting in which to receive the questionnaire also influenced answering incentives. We observed differences in barriers and incentives between immigrants and descendants. Conclusions.Nonresponse appears related to linguistic and/or educational limitations, to alienation generated by the questions' focus on disease and cultural assumptions, or mistrust regarding anonymity. Ethnic minorities seem particularly affected by such barriers. To increase survey participation, questions could be sensitized to reflect multicultural traditions, and the impact of sender and setting considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Denmark, the practice of transnational arranged marriages among immigrants has stirred debate on several levels of society. One effect of the debate is a tightened regulation of family formation migration, seen as an effective means both of limiting the number of immigrants and of furthering processes of social integration. Within media-based and political debates, transnational marriages are frequently described as practices destructive both to individual freedom and to Danish national identity. Nonetheless, it is a practice in which both minority and majority citizens engage, one that frames both their family lives and their lives as citizens. This article analyses the dynamic relationship between public discourse and practices of transnational marriage. The first part describes how political and legislative perceptions of transnational (arranged) marriages are situated within a discussion of 'Danishness'. The second part describes how second-generation immigrants from Turkey and Pakistan, all of whom have married someone from their country of origin, articulate how public discourse on transnationally arranged marriages affects their lives. This part particularly focuses on the informants' expressions of autonomy and choice and their adaptations of such concepts to understandings of social belonging, inclusion and identity formation vis-a-vis the Danish nation-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In general, ethnic minorities are strongly under-represented in representative bodies; however, there is no rule without exceptions. In the municipal elections in Denmark in 2001, the number of ethnic minorities who won election to the local councils throughout the country almost corresponded to their percentage in the general population. The explanation for this can be found in the Danish local election system, with its combination of proportional representation and preferential voting. This system is exceptionally conducive to collective mobilization, which results in a relatively high voter turnout among ethnic minorities and a fair representation in local councils. Since 1981, foreign citizens with permanent residence in Denmark have had the right to vote in local elections. This article describes the development in the representation of ethnic minorities since that time based on a study of all the municipalities in Denmark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]