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. Recent KE projects include
• leading the ‘Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card’ (www.activehealthykidsscotland.co.uk),
• international executive committee of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (www.activehealthykids.org)
• membership of the Science and Evidence Group for the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) https://www.who.int/end-childhood-obesity/en/
• membership of the 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
I have over 300 peer-reviewed papers with an h index (October 2018) of 58 (Web of Science) and 74 (Google Scholar). Recent publications include the following:
Longitudinal changes in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity in children and adolescents: systematic review and meta-analysis. MA Farooq, AM Gibson, X Janssen, AR Hughes, M, A Martin, JJ Reilly. Obes Rev 2020; 21: e12953.
Energy expenditure associated with posture transitions in pre-school children. KL Downing, X Janssen, DP Cliff, AD Okely, JJ Reilly. PLoS ONE 2019; 14 (4) e0215169
Non-linear association
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.
Research interests
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 (including impacts on academic attainment); the development and consequences of sedentary behaviour during childhood and adolescence in low-middle income countries as well as high income countries.
I have over 340 peer-reviewed papers with an h index (August 2020) of 65 (Scopus) and 83 (Google Scholar), and a career FWCI of 3.2.Recent publications can be found in the Personal Statement. 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
- Active Healthy Kids Scotland (Event)
- Member
- 2013
- WHO Geneva Working Group (External organisation)
- Member
- 2013
- IAEA (Event)
- Advisor
- 2012
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (Event)
- Member
- 2012
- Finnish Academy of Sciences (External organisation)
- Member
- 2009
- BMBF (External organisation)
- Member
- 2009
More professional activities
Projects
- Movement behaviours (physical activity, screen time, and sleep) in early childhood in Malawi
- Reilly, John (Principal Investigator) Janssen, Xanne (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2024
- Movement behaviours (physical activity, screen time, and sleep) in early childhood in Malawi.
- Reilly, John (Principal Investigator) Janssen, Xanne (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 29-Jan-2024
- Prevention of obesity, diabetes and some cancers in early childhood: translation of the 'ToyBox' pre-school intervention to Scotland
- Reilly, John (Principal Investigator) Gibson, Ann-Marie (Co-investigator) Hughes, Adrienne (Co-investigator)
- Prevention of obesity, diabetes and some cancers in early childhood: translation of the 'ToyBox' pre-school intervention to Scotland
- 01-Jan-2016 - 30-Jan-2019
- Development and evaluation of active and outdoor play as a strategy for increasing physical activity of children.
- Hughes, Adrienne (Co-investigator) Reilly, John (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2016 - 30-Jan-2018
- Active Healthy Kids Report Card
- Reilly, John (Principal Investigator)
- 04-Jan-2016 - 30-Jan-2016
- Healthy Habits Happy Homes: Translation of an Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Intervention to Socio-economically Deprived Families in Scotland : 3 year studentship for Kyla Booth
- Reilly, John (Principal Investigator) Gibson, Ann-Marie (Co-investigator) Hughes, Adrienne (Co-investigator)
- 3 year studentship for Kyla Booth - Healthy Habits Happy Homes: Translation of an Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Intervention to Socio-economically Deprived Families in Scotland
- 01-Jan-2015 - 30-Jan-2019
More projects
Address
Physical Activity for Health
Graham Hills Building
Graham Hills Building
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