MRC Epidemiology Unit
The government’s £320 million drive to help primary schools promote children’s physical health is in danger of failing because most of the teacher development it funds is ineffective, new research […]
What makes an effective staff training programme for school-based physical activity promotion?
A systematic review and meta-analysis published recently in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity evaluated staff training within school-based physical activity promotion interventions and examined the association […]
Nearly half of six-year-olds in Britain don’t meet daily physical activity guidelines
Only fifty-three percent of six-year-olds, and just forty-two percent of girls, met the recommended daily guidelines for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in a study carried out before the Covid-19 pandemic by […]
Early adulthood education and employment experiences play independent role in later life cardiovascular health
New research published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health has found that education and employment experiences in early adulthood contribute to cardiovascular health inequalities in later life, […]
Unit researchers contribute to Lancet series highlighting need to improve physical activity worldwide
Researchers at the MRC Epidemiology Unit are among scientists from across the world contributing to The Lancet 2021 series on physical activity. Key findings revealed in the series include: Worldwide […]
Becoming less active and gaining weight: downsides of becoming an adult revealed in scientific reviews
Leaving school and getting a job both lead to a drop in the amount of physical activity, while becoming a mother is linked to increased weight gain, conclude two reviews […]
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds and certain ethnic minorities do less vigorous physical activity
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds and certain ethnic minority backgrounds, including from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, have lower levels of vigorous physical activity, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. […]
Physical activity programmes in schools aren’t working – here’s why
Rebecca Love, PhD student at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, writes in The Conversation about the lack of success in efforts to help children be more active at school. A third […]
Obesity prevention: Learning to do no harm – 2018 Max Perutz Science Prize article
This article by Sonja Klingberg, a PhD student in the Unit’s Behavioural Epidemiology programme, was shortlisted for the 2018 Max Perutz Science Writing Award. You can read all the shortlisted […]
Childhood obesity in South Africa – is it a problem?
This article by Sonja Klingberg, a PhD student in the Unit’s Behavioural Epidemiology programme, was shortlisted for the 2017 Max Perutz Science Writing Award. You can read all the shortlisted […]