Professor John Reilly

Physical Activity and Health

Contact

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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: 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 , sedentary behaviour and sleep in children and adolescents. I have been involved in a range of national and international Knowledge Exchange projects, including the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance www.activehealthykids.org, WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) https://www.who.int/end-childhood-obesity/en/   WHO Guideline Development Group on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep for the under 5’s https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/311664  • Chair of the UK Health Departments physical activity guidelines update for the Under 5’s https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/physical-activity-guidelines

Current Knowledge Exchange projects include:

FitBack Scotland- development of a system for national monitoring physical fitness in children and adolescents https://www.actify.org.uk/fitbackscot - Towards a Sustainable Monitoring System to Address the Physical Fitness Crisis in Scottish Children: FitBack Scotland (scottishinsight.ac.uk)

Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Cards on COVID-19 Impacts (2024; funded by the ESRC -IAA) and Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card (2026) www.activehealthykidsscotland.co.uk

Early Childhood Physical Activity, Screen Time, and Sleep in Malawi: Impact Activities from Current Research and Co-creation of Future Research Plans with Stakeholders in Malawi. International Science Partnerships –Scottish Funding Council Funded 2024-25.

Publications

I have almost 400 peer-reviewed papers with an h index (December 2024) of 93 (Web of Science) and 103 (Google Scholar). Recent publications include the following:

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2024-108984

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-024-02104-2

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2824006

https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-024-01650-2h

https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2023-0711.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2024.03.006

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.100869

https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdae022

https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2023-0679

https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/apaq/aop/article-10.1123-apaq.2023-0131/article-10.1123-apaq.2023-0131.xml

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114523000387

https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12628

 

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Teaching

I teach on the BSc Sport & Physical Activity degree, mainly in the Physical Activity & Health classes (e.g. Sports Nutrition), and supervise students doing mini-research projects in 3rd year and larger research dissertation projects in 4th year. 

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Research Interests

See Personal Statement above for Research Interest.

A number of recent research projects have been included in news articles in The Conversation- links below

https://theconversation.com/rewild-your-kids-why-playing-outside-should-be-a-post-pandemic-priority-156077

https://theconversation.com/as-schools-reopen-will-this-be-the-least-fit-generation-of-schoolchildren-ever-145492

https://theconversation.com/active-commuting-could-make-childrens-return-to-school-better-for-their-health-and-the-planet-133094

https://theconversation.com/obesity-is-more-common-than-you-think-heres-why-131341

https://theconversation.com/why-fidgeting-could-be-good-for-your-childs-health-122346

https://theconversation.com/why-screen-time-for-babies-children-and-adolescents-needs-to-be-limited-110630

Professional Activities

In Conversation with Canada's ParticipACTION
Host
14/8/2026
Summer of Sport
Contributor
8/7/2026
Active Healthy Kids Scotland at Summer of Sport
Contributor
8/7/2026
Children need to ‘move more, sleep more and use screens less’
Contributor
17/6/2026
Move for Brain Health: Insights from the 2026 Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card
Speaker
16/6/2026
Picture (Not) Taken: The Impact of COVID-19 on Childhood Physical Activity and Health in Scotland
Contributor
2/6/2026

More professional activities

Projects

Interactive Dashboard for Better Public Health Insights: Active Healthy Kids Scotland
Stewart, Ryan (Principal Investigator) Bardid, Farid (Principal Investigator) Reilly, John (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2026 - 14-Jan-2026
Providing Accessible Local Data on the True Prevalence of Childhood Obesity
Reilly, John (Principal Investigator) Bardid, Farid (Co-investigator) Stewart, Ryan (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2026 - 23-Jan-2026
Investigating 24-hour movement behaviours in young people with Intellectual Disabilities in Scotland
Muirhead, Fiona (Principal Investigator) Bardid, Farid (Co-investigator) Crawford, Megan (Co-investigator) Donnachie, Craig (Co-investigator) Reilly, John (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2025 - 01-Jan-2026
24-hour Movement Behaviours, Child Development, and Families in the Early Years: SUNRISE Scotland
John, Jessica (Researcher) Bardid, Farid (Principal Investigator) Reilly, John (Co-investigator) Henderson, Marion (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2028
Move for brain health: Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card
Bardid, Farid (Principal Investigator) Reilly, John (Co-investigator) Carballo, Mia (Researcher)
01-Jan-2025 - 01-Jan-2026
Digital Childhood: Reducing Health Risks of Screen Time in Early Childhood in Europe
Reilly, John (Principal Investigator) Bardid, Farid (Co-investigator)
30-Jan-2025 - 29-Jan-2026

More projects

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Contact

Professor John Reilly
Physical Activity and Health

Email: john.j.reilly@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 4235