has expertise in:

• childhood obesity: aetiology; diagnosis; prevention; treatment; consequences
• objective measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour
• longitudinal (birth cohort) studies, in particular with ALSPAC and GMS in the UK
• systematic reviewing: evidence appraisal, and evidence - based guideline development
• Physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions in children and adolescents

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. 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 340 peer-reviewed papers with an h index (August 2020) of 65 (Web of Science) and 83 (Google Scholar), and a career FWCI of 3.20. 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 associations between moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity and adiposity across the adiposity distribution during childhood and adolescence: Gateshead Millennium Study. X Janssen, L Basterfield, KN Parkinson, M Pearce, JK Reilly, AJ Adamson, JJ Reilly. Int J Obes 2019 43:744-750.

Longitudinal changes in vigorous intensity physical activity from childhood to adolescence

Gateshead Millennium Cohort Study M Reyes Beltran-Valls, X Janssen^, A Farooq^, AJ

Adamson, MS Pearce, JK Reilly, L Basterfield, JJ Reilly. J Sci Med Sport 2019; 22: 450-

455.

BMI versus deuterium dilution for establishing childhood obesity prevalence. A Diouf, T

Adom, A Aouidet, A El Hamdouchi, NI Joonas, CU Loechl, GH Leyna, D Mbithe, T

Moleah, A Monyeki, HL Nashandi, SMA Somda, JJ ReillyWHO Bulletin 2018; 96: 772-781.

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 3^rd year and larger research dissertation projects in 4^th year. 

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