At the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH) we are interested in understanding the importance of physically active lifestyles in the prevention of major chronic diseases in the general population.
In work led by ISEH Chair in Sport and Exercise Medicine, Professor Mark Hamer we have utilised data from several major British cohort studies with linkages to clinical outcomes to understand how much physical activity is needed to prevent outcomes such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
DEDICATED TO IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH THROUGH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
We have ongoing collaborations with a series of major cohort studies at UCL Centre Longitudinal Studies, the Whitehall II Study, and English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Professor Hamer states: “Analyses of these major epidemiological studies are important to help inform public health policy on physical activity guidelines to improve health”.
Professor Mike Loosemore, Lead Consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine at the ISEH has interests in sedentary behavior and how we can design interventions to incorporate more movement into daily lives and notes that “Studies by bodies such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) show that the health benefits of physical activity are well proven and that this is a major global issue. More research is crucial, to ensure that the medical profession and Government alike have access to evidence rather than speculation.”
Some of our ongoing projects include:
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Pooling together a range of international cohort studies that have used wearable technology to measure physical activity, sedentary and sleep, with linkages to clinical health outcomes www.propassconsortium.org
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Evaluating the impact of a group exercise intervention on activity levels in people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in central London
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Using exercise training as treatment for localised prostate cancer
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COVID-19 specific: exercise and immune function; influence of lockdown on physical activity and subsequent health; using physical activity to rehab COVID-19 patients recovering from critical care
For further details on our Population Health research please contact Professor Mark Hamer m.hamer@ucl.ac.uk, Professor of Sport and Exercise Medicine at the ISEH.