Dose response effects of fundamental movement skill interventions on motor competence, physical activity and health

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The positive impact of physical activity (PA) on children’s current and future health is well established and there is good evidence for the positive and significant association between fundamental movement skill (FMS) competence and engagement in present and future PA. FMS are basic skills which have been described as the building blocks of involvement in physical activity. However, childhood skill levels are lower than desirable in a number of countries and low FMS competency in childhood tracks into adolescence. Therefore, development of FMS has been recommended as a key focus to enhance PA in children and adolescents for health benefits.


The focus of this Cotutelle PhD proposal would be to examine dose-response effects of FMS intervention on FMS, PA, weight status and psychosocial factors in early adolescent girls. There is the potential to take different approaches in terms of the socio- cultural group of participants.

The PhD programme could incorporate the following objectives:
• Examine dose response effects of FMS interventions in early adolescent girls on:
o Fundamental Motor Skill competency
o Physical activity
o Weight status
o Psychosocial factors (self-esteem, self-perception)
o Motivation (via self-determination)
• Determine the short (pre to post) and maintenance (+10 weeks post intervention) effects of different doses of FMS intervention in early adolescent girls.
• Explore, qualitatively, the experiences of girls undertaking FMS intervention alongside the barriers/facilitators to PA in early adolescent girls.
• Explore the extent to which socio-economic status/deprivation might influence the outcomes from and experience of undertaking FMS intervention in early adolescent girls.

About the host Centre/Department:

School of Health and Social Development/Institute of Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN)
IPAN is a world-leading research institute of more than 65 academic members of staff committed to improving health and quality of life in the population. We focus on reducing the rates of chronic disease through physical activity and nutrition research excellence while fostering the next generation of research stars. Our research is primarily focused on the primary and secondary prevention of disease through the understanding of and promoting engagement in physical activity and a healthy diet. Our research expertise focusses on creating healthy and active environments and lifestyles, including the implementation of interventions at scale to influence systems-level change.

The School of Life Sciences in collaboration with the Research Centre in Applied Biological and Exercise Science focuses on understanding the relationship between physical activity, exercise, obesity and health with a particular emphasis on work with children and older adults. The School and Centre have extensive background in working in local schools on fundamental motor skills monitoring, measurement and intervention design and evaluation.

Candidate specification:

Successful applicants will have:
• A minimum of a 2:1 first degree (second class honours upper division) in a relevant discipline/subject area with a minimum 70% mark in the project element or equivalent with a minimum 70% overall module average, and/or
• A Masters Degree in a relevant subject area will be considered as an equivalent. The Masters must have been attained with overall marks at 70%. In addition, the dissertation or equivalent element in the Masters must also have been attained with a mark at 70%.
• The potential to engage in innovative research and to complete the PhD within a prescribed period of study
• Language proficiency (IELTS overall minimum score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each component).

Application Procedure:

Applicants should contact Dr Lisa Barnett [Email Address Removed] for an initial discussion and then apply online via http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/become-a-research-student/how-to-apply-research-degrees

Duration of study:

Full- Time- three years fixed term

Entry point is May 2018