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| Allegrante on a Ferry to Videy, site of the Imagine Peace Light Tower |
Iceland is located in the upper reaches of the middle North Atlantic. Most of this island's 103,000 square kilometers of land mass sit just below the Arctic Circle. It is becoming more diverse, experiencing some of the effects of global migration and a growing immigrant population that comes from many regions of the world, including Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.
One of the key areas of my research here has been to investigate the links between the health status and health behaviors of Icelandic children and adolescents and their academic achievement. Using data from the annual Youth in Iceland surveys, our work has shown that there is an association between the levels of physical activity, dietary habits, and performance in school. We have now published several reports on health and academic achievement and related topics since I first went to Iceland as a Fulbright Specialist three years ago. These reports can be viewed by going to www.pubmed.gov and searching for John P. Allegrante. During the 1990s, adolescent substance use—smoking, alcohol use and marijuana use—was rising and paralleled that of the experience in much of Europe. Today, thanks to prodigious efforts by the Icelandic social scientists (some with whom I have been working) to reduce key risk factors for adolescent substance use and strengthen community-level protective factors, the rate of adolescent substance use has declined dramatically and is now among the lowest in Europe. At the heart of that success is an approach to substance use prevention among youth that is centered on strengthening schools, families and sports organizations.
My host institution, Reykjavik University—only a decade old—was founded by the Iceland Chamber of Commerce. It is Iceland's first private university, and one of the first of its kind in Europe. The university is committed to innovation and international research collaboration, among other goals. A recent feature article in London’s Guardian newspaper (http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2225347,00.html) noted that, “When it comes to making higher education more equal for women, [Reykjavik University] has valuable lessons to offer.” The next phase of its development includes the construction of a striking new campus building. I was privileged to sit on the university’s committee that reviewed and judged the entries in the design competition for the new campus.
I became involved with Iceland and Reykjavik University three years ago, when I first met Inga Dora Sigfúsdóttir, dean of the fledgling School of Health and Education. I began collaborating with her and her colleagues on research focusing on the importance of health status to academic achievement shortly after my initial visit to Iceland in January 2005 and during the subsequent award of my Fulbright Specialist grant. Inga Dora has been on leave from the university throughout the autumn term, working as a special assistant to Iceland's Ministry of Health and Social Security, which has put her in a position to implement research-based policy that is drawing on some of the work we've done. During this time, I have served as acting dean of the School of Health and Education and member of the university-wide Research Council, where I have had the extraordinary opportunity to work with some of the brightest students and most committed faculty I have ever encountered.
My grant to Iceland has brought me into contact with a rich and fascinating array of people, from students and colleagues with whom I have worked and from whom I have learned so much about the Icelandic culture and national aspirations, to other Fulbright award grantees, to the President of Iceland.
Even though the weather during the late summer and throughout the autumn of my stay presented challenges at times, I was outdoors often, which is what being in Iceland should be all about. Hiking in Iceland has always been a favorite activity. Three years ago, my son Jason and I hiked the storied 55-kilometer “Laugavegur” trail from Landmannalaugar to Thorsmork, in the south of Iceland.
In November, I also traveled to Akureyri and Husavik in the northeastern reaches of the country, just miles from the Arctic Circle, to hunt Ptarmigans, a wild game bird similar to grouse that is a traditional delicacy at the Icelandic Christmas table. I bagged five of the birds but while my good luck will not put me into the Icelandic sagas, it did prove one thing that has a certain currency among Viking culture: it demonstrated that even a professor from New York could shoot!
Iceland is both a small country and one with potential to develop a strong public health infrastructure that constitutes an interesting laboratory in which to try out new health promotion programs, such as "Prevention Day," a nation-wide initiative to bring attention to the importance of promoting health and preventing disease. The scale is small enough that it is relatively easy to try new ideas and then observe the impact of experimental approaches.
My Fulbright experience in Iceland has been one of the most productive and rewarding chapters of my life and career. The island, the people, and the culture are as unique and fascinating as any place I have ever visited. So, if you are looking for a unique adventure on this planet, get to Iceland and live and study there for a few months. You won’t regret it and it will change your perspective in the most remarkable ways.
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