School-based health promotion: understanding the educational context to positively influence children's physical activity and health behaviours
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: MRC Epidemiology Unit
Abstract
School-based health promotion: understanding the educational context to positively
influence children's physical activity and health behaviours
influence children's physical activity and health behaviours
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Mairead Ryan (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000738/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2405253 | Studentship | ES/P000738/1 | 01/10/2019 | 31/03/2023 | Mairead Ryan |
| Description | Approximately 50% of children and 81% of adolescents worldwide are insufficiently physically active. Inactivity has a mortality burden as large as tobacco smoking and causes significant health, social, and economic harms. Schools have the potential to effect large-scale, inclusive, and long-term change. Accordingly, they have been the focus of many intervention programmes. These have largely failed and outcomes are poorly understood. Governments and schools are now ill-equipped to develop evidence-informed policies. My research combines insights from multiple fields to determine why such interventions have failed and how schools can best catalyse change to improve students' physical activity. To date I have reviewed evidence from international interventions to identify features of effective teacher training courses that resulted in change to students' activity (currently preparing a paper for submission). I am now assessing whether uniforms contribute to gender differences in activity levels, how schools use their Physical Education budget, and what factors inform their decision-making. |
| Exploitation Route | The review expands beyond what is frequently reported about the lack of effectiveness of school-based interventions on device-measured activity behaviour to better understand why, and identifies specific, replicable techniques that can be incorporated into future teacher training programmes to promote student physical activity. The review highlights relevant theory and evidence from the field Education that is frequently overlooked in public health research, and addresses important subject matter and methodological limitations associated with existing reviews of the professional development literature relating to student activity behaviour. |
| Sectors | Education,Healthcare |
| Description | A review of the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | I presented findings to the Council, the Government Chief Scientific Advisor, and other senior stakeholders across government. The findings were used to inform changes to how the Council develops their advice and communicates with the most senior members of government. I was also invited to present the review to other stakeholder groups across government. Oral presentation, Chairs of Science Advisory Councils (CSAC) bi-annual meeting, Jan 2022; online. Oral presentation, Government Office for Science all-staff teach-in meeting; ''What works' to improve the impact of GO-Science advice in policy making?', Nov 2021; online. Oral presentation, Chief Scientific Advisor Officials (CSA O) Network meeting, Nov 2021; online. Oral presentation, Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology (CST) quarterly meeting, Sep 2021; The British Academy, London. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/council-for-science-and-technology-meeting-22-23-september-2021-summary |
| URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-council-for-science-and-technology-impact-o... |
| Description | Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees and Councils: CoPSAC 2021 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | The Code of Practice is used to guide scientific advisory committees and councils (n= ~70) across government departments in their operations to promote the good governance and the good use of evidence. |
| URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advisory-committees-code-of-practice |