Danish holiday meals: The fat that keeps on giving

Extra holiday kilos hang around for months after the duck is done

As the annual bacchanalia that is the Danish julefrokost season creeps ever closer, a new US study is offering up a bit of cautionary advice: those extra kilos packed on during the holidays could be hanging around your waist long after the Christmas tree has been hauled to the dump.

Every holiday season carries its own fat bomb, but the Christmas season is by far the heaviest, and nowhere is it felt more acutely than in northern Europe – not even in the US.

According to figures reported by videnskab.dk based on a study of 3,000 people from different countries, Germans packed on 0.6 percent of their own bodyweight in the ten days leading up to Christmas, compared to 0.4 in the US and 0.5 in Japan.

Extending the numbers out to New Year’s Day, Germans added a full 1 percent of their bodyweight over the holidays, and the extra weight doesn’t come off easily or quickly. Danish holiday traditions are similar to those found in Germany, and in many cases even more fattening.

A moment on the lips, forever on the hips
The Americans in the study did not begin to lose their holiday weight until May, and they then started to slowly add on the pounds again when the holiday treats began their siren call the following October.

“Three different countries, but people from each one all gained weight during the holidays,” wrote Brian Lansink, a PhD at Cornell University in the US who is one of the authors of the study.

“To advise a patient to have better self-control during the holidays is one approach, but perhaps it would be better to tell them that half of the extra holiday weight they add will still be there come the summer or even longer. The less you gain, the less you have to lose.”

READ MORE: Under the Raydar | Surviving the Danish Christmas

The study has just been released in the New England Journal of Medicine.




  • The internationals who created an app to make friends in Denmark  

    The internationals who created an app to make friends in Denmark  

    A team of young internationals has created an app that is helping their peers connect and build friendships in Denmark, addressing the challenges of social integration.

  • New documentary stirs debate in Denmark and Greenland 

    New documentary stirs debate in Denmark and Greenland 

    The documentary Greenland’s White Gold, reveals the worth of cryolite mining in Greenland to be in the billions. Over the years its value has been undermined, despite it acting like a gold mine for the Danish state. 

  • Today is 10 years from Copenhagen terrorist attack

    Today is 10 years from Copenhagen terrorist attack

    On February 14 and 15, the last terrorist attack took place in Denmark. Another episode occurred in 2022, but in that case, there was no political motive behind it

  • Enter Christiania: how the Freetown works

    Enter Christiania: how the Freetown works

    We all know Christiania and have been there at least once. But how does the Freetown work? How are decisions made? Can a person move there? Is there rent or bills to pay? British journalist Dave Wood wrote a reportage on Christiania for The Copenhagen Post.

  • The struggles of Asian women in Denmark’s labour market

    The struggles of Asian women in Denmark’s labour market

    Isha Thapa unfolds her research “An Analysis on the Inclusivity and Integration of South Asian Women in High-Skilled Jobs within the Danish Labor Market”. Thapa describes the systemic and social challenges these women face, ranging from barriers in social capital to cultural integration.

  • Parents in Denmark reject social media monitoring 

    Parents in Denmark reject social media monitoring 

    Most parents in Denmark reject using social media parental controls despite knowing about them. A new study questions the effectiveness of these tools in ensuring children’s online safety.