Personal statement

Professor John J Reilly

Professor of Physical Activity and Public Health Science

Personal Statement

I joined the University in 2011 as John Anderson Research Leader and Professor of Physical Activity & Public Health Science.  I was formerly Professor of Paediatric Energy Metabolism at the University of Glasgow. My research work focuses on: interventions for the prevention of child and adolescent obesity worldwide; the consequences of obesity and low physical activity in children and adolescents globally; the development  and consequences of sedentary behaviour during childhood and adolescence globally; global monitoring of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children and adolescents.

  I am involved in a range of national and international Knowledge Exchange projects. This includes leading the ‘Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card’ (www.activehealthykidsscotland.co.uk), a ‘state of the nation’ report on the physical activity and health of Scottish children and adolescents. I am on the international executive committee of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (www.activehealthykids.org) which is responsible for publication of Active Healthy Kids Report Cards in over 50 countries, and an international report card. I have been involved in a number of WHO initiatives, including: membership of the Ad hoc group on science & evidence for ending childhood obesity (2014-2015; which contributed to the Ending Childhood Obesity, ‘ECHO’ report in 2016); reviews of evidence to inform updating guidance on integrated management of childhood illness by incorporating perspectives on obesity and NCD prevention (2015-2016); physical activity component of the Healthy Lifecourse Trajectories Initiative  HeLTI (2016-2017); membership of the WHO Guideline Development Group on 24 Hour Movement Behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, screen-time) for the Early Years (2017-2018).

  I am an editor of the journals ‘Pediatric Obesity’ and ‘Journal of Measurement of Physical Behaviour’. I have nearly 300 peer-reviewed papers with an h index (Web of Science, June 2017) of 54.Recent publications include the following:

Longitudinal associations between childhood obesity and academic achievement: systematic review with focus group data. A Martin, JN Booth, S McGeown, A Niven, J Sproule, DH Saunders, JJ Reilly. Curr Obes Rep 2017 6:297-313.

Early life obesity prevention: critique of intervention trials during the first 1000 days. JJ Reilly, A Martin, AR Hughes. Curr Obes Rep 2017; 6:127-133.

Health impact of catch-up growth in low-birth weight infants: systematic review, evidence appraisal, and meta-analysis. A Martin, A Connelly, RM Bland, JJ Reilly. Maternal & Child Nutr 2017; 13: e12297

Timing of the decline in physical activity in childhood and adolescence: Gateshead Millennium Cohort StudyA Farooq , KN Parkinson, AJ Adamson, MS Pearce,  JK Reilly, AR Hughes, X Janssen,  L Basterfield, JJ Reilly.Br J Sports Med 2017, In press

Global Matrix 2.0: report card grades on the physical activity of children and youth comparing 38 countries. MS Tremblay, JD Barnes, SA Gonzalez, PT Katzmarzyk, V Onywera, JJ Reilly, GR Tomkinson. J Phys Act & Health 2016; 13; suppl 2 s343-s366.

Development of sedentary behavior across childhood and adolescence: longitudinal analysis of the Gateshead Millennium Study. X Janssen, K Mann, L Basterfield, KN Parkinson, MS Pearce, JK Reilly, AJ Adamson, JJ Reilly. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2016; 13:88.

Associations between obesity and cognition in the pre-school years. A Martin, JN Booth, D Young, M Revie, AC Boyter, B Johnston, PD Tomporowski, JJ Reilly. Obesity 2016; 24: 207-214.

Timing of adiposity rebound and adiposity in adolescence. AR Hughes, DA Lawlor, AR Ness, JJ Reilly. Pediatrics 2014; 134; e1354-e1361.

Obesity impairs academic attainment in adolescence: findings from ALSPAC, a UK cohort. J Booth, C Joinson, J Boyle, SD Leary, PD Tomporowski, AR Ness, JJ Reilly. Int J Obes 2014; 38:1335-1342

Associations between objectively measured physical activity and academic attainment in adolescents from a UK cohort. J Booth, C Joinson, J Boyle, SD Leary, PD Tomporowski, AR Ness, JJ Reilly. Br J Sports Med 2014; 48:265-270.