Characterising changes and covariation in physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep during childhood and adolescence (AtkinU17SF) at University of East Anglia on FindAPhD.com

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Dr A Atkin Applications accepted all year round Self-Funded PhD Students Only

About the Project

Public health interventions often seek to change the amount of time that people spend in particular behaviours, such as increasing physical activity or reducing sedentary behaviour, with the aim of enhancing health. In order to establish the net benefit to health of such a change in behaviour, however, it is necessary to understand how an individual reconfigures their time budget to accommodate this change. If, for example, a switch from travelling by car to bicycle for the journey to school is accompanied by reduced sleep (due to needing to get up earlier) or increased TV viewing (due to feeling more tired later in the day), the potential health benefit of increased physical activity may not be realised.

To date, few studies have examined how physical activity, sedentary behaviours and sleep interact within the day to day lives of young people (clustering) or explored how changes in one domain impact upon participation in other activities (covariation). These inter-relations have important implications for the design and evaluation of behaviour change interventions and their potential to improve population health.

The aim of the PhD project will be to enhance understanding of the way in which physical activity, sedentary behaviours and sleep change and co-vary in young people during free-living and/or in response to a behaviour change programme.

Specific objectives:
• Develop a research proposal relevant to the topic outlined above and reflective of the candidate’s own research interests and experience
• Carry out a systematic literature review
• Conduct secondary analysis of observational and/or intervention data
• Engage in relevant training in research skills and personal and professional development
• Disseminate results to academic and non-academic audiences

For more information on the supervisor for this project, please go here: https://www.uea.ac.uk/health-sciences/people/profile/a-atkin#overviewTab
Type of programme: PhD
Start date of project: This can be flexible – as suitable for the applicant
Mode of study: Full time

Application deadline is 31st July 2018

Minimum 2:1 in Sport / Exercise Science, Medicine / Public Health, Health Sciences

Funding Notes

This PhD project is offered on a self-funding basis. It is open to applicants with funding or those applying to funding sources. Details of tuition fees can be found at http://www.uea.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research-degrees/fees-and-funding.

A bench fee may also payable on top of the tuition fee to cover specialist equipment or laboratory costs required for the research. The amount charged annually will vary considerably depending on the nature of the project and applicants should contact the primary supervisor for further information about the fee associated with the project.

References

1) Tremblay, MS et al. Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth: An Integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2016 Jun;41(6 Suppl 3):S311-27. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2016-0151.

2) Gomersall, SR et al. In search of lost time: When people undertake a new exercise program, where does the time come from? A randomized controlled trial. J Sci Med Sport. 2015 Jan;18(1):43-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2014.01.004. Epub 2014 Feb 6.

3) Chastin, SF et al. Combined Effects of Time Spent in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviors and Sleep on Obesity and Cardio-Metabolic Health Markers: A Novel Compositional Data Analysis Approach. PLoS One. 2015 Oct 13;10(10):e0139984. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139984. eCollection 2015.

4) Pearson, N et al. Associations between sedentary behaviour and physical activity in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2014 Aug;15(8):666-75. doi: 10.1111/obr.12188. Epub 2014 May 20.

Where will I study?

University of East Anglia

We’re one of the UK’s leading research institutions, ranked 10th in the UK for the quality of our research outputs and with more than 1,500 research students.

Characterising changes and covariation in physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep during childhood and adolescence (AtkinU17SF)

University of East Anglia School of Health Sciences