The Physical Activity for Health research group is in the School of Psychological Sciences and Health within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The group is led by Nanette Mutrie, Professor of Exercise and Sport Psychology, and is currently based on the Jordanhill Campus.
We aspire to be recognised as an internationally excellent centre for research in physical activity for health. Our aim is to develop and test interventions that promote increased physical activity across the lifespan and with clinical groups. We have expertise across a range of disciplines related to physical activity for health including physiology, psychology, measurement, physical education and public health.
The group currently has a core of around 20 members: Academic staff include:
- Professor Nanette Mutrie
- Dr David Rowe
- Dr Alison Kirk
- Dr Claire Fitzsimons
- Mr Stuart Forsyth
- Dr. Graham Baker
- Dr Fiona Reid
- Ms Rona Sutherland
- Professor John Reilly
We also have 5 funded PhD students, 2 part-time PhD students and 2 M.Phil students. In addition we have externally funded researchers from The Scottish Physical Activity Research Collaboration (www.sparcoll.org.uk), the iconnect project (www.iconnect.ac.uk/.) McMilllan Cancer Care and a CSO funded project related to walking for older adults.
Our group meets weekly to discuss current research issues, hear presentations from our own researchers and students, or hold seminars with visiting researchers. We also contribute to the School and Faculty seminar series. Researchers from all faculties who are interested in physical activity for health are connected by a virtual network called SPAN (Strathclyde Physical Activity Network). This network has an annual meeting with an invited lecture and allows researchers to be informed of seminars and research calls of interest
We have an Honorary Professor form the University of Ulster (Professor Marie Murphy) with whom we are building a collaboration on walking programmes. In addition we have 3 honorary researchers who provide expertise, seminar input and advice. They are Professor Sally Macintyre, Dr Mathew Lowther and Dr Anna Campbell
Our group members are actively involved in Knowledge Exchange and are influential in policy regarding physical activity for health. For example Nanette Mutrie was a member of the task force that wrote the Scottish strategy ‘let’s make Scotland more active’; Stuart Forsyth was a member of the review group on Physical Education and John Reilly has led the development of guidelines for recommended amounts of activity for the health of young children.
The physical activity for health group also provides evidence based teaching for our popular degree courses - B.Sc Sport and Physical Activity, PGDE Physical Education and B.Ed Primary Education
