Mass media

A quiet afternoon in Brohuset in Hillerød quickly turned into a buzzing health room when the red health bus rolled into the parking lot in front of the residents' building. Here, residents were invited to have their risk of type 2 diabetes measured and to have a chat with professionals – and interest proved to be great.

The integration debate in Denmark, all too often ends up with a repetition of everything that doesn't work. The story is characterized by problems, crime and cultural conflicts. It's as if we've become so used to talking about failure that we forget to look at the places where things actually succeed. And those places exist. We can see it in Tingbjerg, in Høje Gladsaxe. The latest experiences from Tingbjerg and residential areas with "Health on Wheels", among others, show us something else: When you move the offers closer to the citizens, provide involvement and local communities - then integration can not only survive, but flourish.

In a public housing area in Høje Gladsaxe, a red health bus was set up next to a food bazaar just under a month ago – and it ended up being well-attended. Here, residents could get tested for the risk of type 2 diabetes, and the queue grew throughout the day. “We experienced an overwhelming interest in the screening in Høje Gladsaxe. Over 100 residents got tested, and this confirms how important it is that we move health services to the places where people live,” says Tanja Thybo, Head of Research at the Diabetes Foundation.

Health is also about security and community. Paul Bloch said this in Go’ Morgen Denmark on TV 2, where he focused on the long-term, health-promoting initiative in Tingbjerg. Over the past decade, residents have experienced significant improvements in their health, including fewer new cases of type 2 diabetes. The secret is of course security – that we have created meeting places and spaces where people can be present in the local area, explained Paul Bloch.

Cake, soda and rice and then a quick stop by the freezer to get some ice cream to take home. This is what a shopping trip could look like for 55-year-old Salwa Awad two years ago, but not anymore. Today she has changed her habits and has lost 11 kilos and lives a completely different and healthier life. Two years ago, Salwa Awad became part of a large project in Tingbjerg, and it has meant a lot to her.

If you live in Gladsaxe and have been to the Diabetes Association's health bus last week, you may want to pay attention to your health. Now the Diabetes Association is ready with the results from the area that have caused a stir. The figures show that 61 percent of those tested have a high or very high risk of type 2 diabetes. Measurements of the long-term blood sugar of those present showed that 12 people had either prediabetes or diabetes. And that is more than twice as large a proportion compared to what the health bus usually finds.

The hunt has turned to people who live in social housing and rarely or never go to the doctor. This allows them to live with an undetected disease. For example, the Danish Diabetes Association and Steno, a network of diabetes centers, have joined forces to create a model that can be rolled out to social housing throughout the country.

In 2015, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, the Municipality of Copenhagen, local housing organizations and several others began a collaboration with the goal of creating well-being, promoting a good, healthy life and preventing type 2 diabetes among Tingbjerg residents. Before the initiative, the incidence of new cases of type 2 diabetes was almost twice as high in Tingbjerg as in the rest of Denmark. During the time the project has been running, the incidence of new cases has increased nationwide, while it has decreased in Tingbjerg. The incidence of new cases of type 2 diabetes in Tingbjerg is now at the same level as in the rest of Denmark.

Time and trust are two important ingredients if you are to succeed in improving health in a vulnerable residential area. Johanne Baagøe has been a diabetes nurse in Tingbjerg since 2018, and she, among other things, accompanies citizens to the doctor if necessary.

Can you make a gastronomic masterpiece from leftover food in just two hours? If you ask the 30 or so committed young people who participated in the Food Bank's Food Waste Battle on Saturday, the answer is a clear and resounding YES. On Saturday, April 26, 2025, Spor 10, in Jernbanebyen in Copenhagen's Sydhavn, transformed into a creative stage for food joy, community and sustainable upcycling of leftover food, as a successful Food Waste Battle took place.

The Tingbjerg district is making progress in a number of areas. More people are getting a youth education, fewer people are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and the area is no longer on the list of transformation areas. What has been successful in Tingbjerg? The answer may be found in food clubs, Zumba training, and a large portion of love for the residential area.

Can you make a gastronomic masterpiece out of food waste in just two hours? That's what 30 young people from disadvantaged residential areas in Copenhagen will be competing for on Saturday, April 26, when FødevareBanken invites you to the Food Waste Battle at Spor 10 in Jernbanebyen in Sydhavnen. On this occasion, Spor 10 will be transformed into a stage for creative food enjoyment, community and upcycling of fresh surplus food, which is fine. The participants will compete for the title of Food Waste Champion, while the audience is invited to experience the competition up close and taste the young people's dishes.

At Husum School, 45 children from the 2nd grade participated in the waste collection. In 30 minutes, 10 kg of waste was collected from the school grounds. The event was held as part of the project Happy Healthy Children in Motion, which is now in its 3rd year in northwestern Copenhagen. The project works to give children aged 3–9 from Husum and Tingbjerg insight into nature, food and play.

For ten years, work has been done to promote health and prevent type 2 diabetes in the Tingbjerg district. Now the diabetes curve has been broken. While the incidence of type 2 diabetes is increasing in Denmark, it is decreasing in the Copenhagen district of Tingbjerg. This is shown by new figures from Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, which has been working to promote the health of residents in Tingbjerg for the past ten years.

The Tingberg project has been highlighted by the World Economic Forum. And delegations from countries such as Iran, Vietnam and Canada have visited. The incidence of type 2 diabetes is generally increasing in Denmark, but in one place in the country they have managed to reverse the trend.

Because in the Copenhagen district of Tingbjerg, it has been possible to reduce the number of new cases, so that it is now at the same level as in the rest of the country - previously it was almost twice as high.

Since 2015, the Capital Region of Denmark's Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, together with the Municipality of Copenhagen and public housing organizations, has worked to promote health and prevent type 2 diabetes in the Tingbjerg district. Now the diabetes curve is breaking, and the preventive health efforts are attracting international attention.

Thanks to a collaboration between Tingbjerg, Steno Diabetes Center and the Municipality of Copenhagen, it has been possible to break an otherwise high diabetes curve in the district.

The good results have attracted attention abroad, and therefore the British Minister of Health, Karin Smyth, visited Tingbjerg today to learn from the good results.

In the Copenhagen district of Tingbjerg, type 2 diabetes has been reduced - while the incidence is increasing in the rest of the country. The preventive initiatives have attracted international attention, which is why the British Minister of Health, Karin Smyth, was today on an inspirational tour of the Copenhagen residential area.

​Mostly across the Western world, the curve of new type 2 diabetes cases only goes one way – and that is up. But in the Copenhagen district of Tingbjerg, something has happened that has resonated internationally. It has succeeded in breaking the curve. So much so, in fact, that the number of cases of type 2 diabetes is now falling. Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen has been at the forefront of promoting the health of the residents of Tingbjerg for ten years.

A prevention initiative in Copenhagen has broken the diabetes curve in Tingbjerg. In the Tingbjerg district of Copenhagen, the incidence of type 2 diabetes is falling, while the incidence is rising in the rest of the country.

For more than ten years, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen has collaborated with, among others, the Municipality of Copenhagen and housing associations to promote health and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in the vulnerable Tingbjerg district of Copenhagen. Now, new figures show that the incidence of the disease is falling in the area, while it continues to rise nationally. The preventive initiatives in Tingbjerg have attracted international attention.

For more than ten years, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen has collaborated with, among others, the Municipality of Copenhagen and housing associations to promote health and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in the vulnerable Tingbjerg district of Copenhagen. Now, new figures show that the incidence of the disease is falling in the area, while it continues to rise nationally. The preventive initiatives in Tingbjerg have attracted international attention.

Paul Bloch took part in a debate at Folkemødet 2024 regarding the role of housing associations in strengthening the local healthcare system. The debate was organized by BL - Danmarks Almene Boliger.

The article is about the housing social comprehensive plan Mit Kvarter acts in 3B's largest housing department, Folehaven, on the structural inequality in health through a series of activist citizen meetings in a newly conceived, inclusive format. Paul Bloch, who is a senior researcher in the field of health with a focus on citizen involvement and social mobilization, adds a comment.

The article explains how Tingbjerg Changing Diabetes is one of three nominated for 'Den Gyldne Tråd' 2024, which pays tribute to cross-sector cooperation in the local healthcare system.

The article tells how 62 kilos of garbage were collected at the Happy Healthy Children's event at the natural piece Vestvolden in Husum, when 130 children from the area's kindergartens and schools were invited to do some movement-oriented nature activities and at the same time get delicious food from Café Majroe.

In this article, senior researcher Paul Bloch's experiences with the health of general residents from the Tingbjerg Changing Diabetes project are shared. He emphasizes the importance of alleviating citizens' social challenges in order to achieve effective health promotion initiatives. He points out how the housing organizations can be a way to get closer to the residents and utilize the resources, cultures, ideas and knowledge that the housing area entails.

The article focuses on a new festival in Husum's Energicenter Voldparken, which will introduce the city's children to leisure activities and good, fun communities. Din Fritids Festival has invited all children from Husum and Korsager school to several days full of play and fun facilitated by, among others, Happy Healthy and Active Children.

The article is about how Frederikshavn Handelsskole was the setting for an idea workshop with almost 100 participants, who represented a broad group of both private, public and voluntary actors. This happened in connection with the collaboration project "Happy Healthy and Active Children".

The article explains how 27 meeting places and communities will now receive financial support from Realdania to continue or resume their initiatives from the corona era. The community garden in Tingbjerg is one of them and will now receive support to expand the garden with new garden areas and activities

The article explains how the latest resident survey in Tingbjerg shows that most of the residents are happy to live in Tingbjerg, but a lot of the residents do not participate in the different activities and arrangements founded by the city.

The article explains how the initiative Tingbjerg Changing Diabetes has been nominated for The Golden Thread 2022 for its great work in promoting health in an exposed residential area.

The article tells the story of how the Social Development Plan in Tingbjerg and Utterslevhuse & Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen are doing a resident survey to see what acitvities the residents of Tingbjerg use. The survey is performed by trained residents of Tingbjerg, who are walking from door to door to collect data.

The article focuses on the folk kitchen in the Community Garden in Tingbjerg and how the kitchen is run and opens up to guests every Wednesday night. Bonfire food, delicious ingredients, a passionate chef and dedicated residents - this is a recipe for success.

The article focuses on the pocket money project in Tingbjerg, which implies that young people from Tingbjerg can help collect apples, and then turn them into applejuice and sell them to the volunteer café for pocket money.

The article deals with the use of the supersetting approach in the work with the strategic initiative 'Tingbjerg Changing Diabetes' in Tingbjerg

The article deals with the use of the supersetting approach in the work with the strategic initiative 'Tingbjerg Changing Diabetes' in Tingbjerg

The article explores how Restaurant Virketrang had to re-think the communal dining in the Community Garden in Tingbjerg due to Covid-19, and how the new concept has been met with great support.

The article explains how Copenhagen Hospitality College and the citizens of Tingbjerg join forces to run Restaurant Virketrang. The restaurant is located in Tingbjerg and is open every Wednesday at 6 pm.

The article tells the story of how young residents from Tingbjerg have been trained and educated to go around the district and collect data for a resident survey conducted by the Social Development Plan in Tingbjerg and Utterslevhuse and Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen.