Seminar on ‘Why, What and How of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Measurement’ by Kieran Dowd

It is widely accepted that regular participation in physical activity is beneficial for health, while we are gaining a better understanding of the effects of increased time spent in sedentary behaviours on chronic disease risk factors. However, little is known of the effect of other free-living activity behaviours, such as standing time or physical activity which requires low levels of energy expenditure, on health markers. To date, we have also struggled to modify such activity behaviours via interventions in any meaningful way at a population level. This has been attributed to issues with the identification of determinants of physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

It has been proposed that the measurement of such ubiquitous free-living behaviours has been a significant limitation in

1. accurately determining the effect of free-living activity behaviours on health
2. identifying the determinants of free-living activity behaviours and
3. determining the effectiveness of interventions to modify free-living activity behaviours.

This presentation aims to describe why it is important to address these specific issues, some additional physical activity behaviours that may be worthwhile examining and provides some recommendations on how such behaviours should be examined.

Bio: Dr Kieran Dowd qualified from the University of Limerick in 2007 with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Physical Education teaching. In 2012, he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Limerick. His Ph.D. research focused on developing accurate and effective methods of examining physical activity and sedentary behaviours using accelerometry. This research also aimed to examined associations between such activity behaviours and indices of health in youth populations. Kieran’s post-doctoral research was part of the Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity Knowledge Hub (DEDIPAC KH). His primary role within this project was to critically evaluate the state of the art techniques for physical activity and sedentary behaviour measurement. Kieran currently lectures on the new B.Sc. (Honours) in Physical Activity and Health in Athlone Institute of Technology. He continues to collaborate and consult on projects in relation to measurement across Europe.

All are welcome! Please feel free to circulate to colleagues and contacts who may be interested in attending. The aim of these seminars is to support a network of people interested in research in Health Psychology and to provide opportunities for sharing and developing research ideas.

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