It is well established that physical inactivity is a risk factor for the development of non-communicable chronic diseases, with estimates that it is responsible for more than five-million deaths per year worldwide. This research will investigate the combined effects of sedentary behaviour and physical activity on health outcomes and assess whether overall volume, or duration, frequency or intensity of physical activity are critical for the development of different biological health conditions and wellbeing. It will involve new analyses of population-based data from cohort studies, including the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women Health (ALSWH, with 20+ years of data from three birth cohorts), the HABITAT cohort study (nine years prospective individual and environmental data from more than 9000 mid-age and older adults living in Brisbane) and the Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Studies (of mothers and children in Pelotas, Brazil from 1982 to 2015).

Funding body: UQ internal initiatives - UQ Development Fellowships 2018

Project members

The University of Queensland researchers involved in this project are:

Dr Gregore Iven Mielke

Senior Research Fellow
School of Public Health

Emeritus Professor Wendy Brown

Emeritus Professor
School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences