Professor Gareth Stratton

Applied-Sports Technology Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) Research Centre, College of Engineering, Swansea University

This briefing will explore the trends in children's physical activity, health, fitness and overweight. In 2007 a study on fitness ranked children in Wales 23rd out of 23 countries in Europe. Recent Health Survey data also points towards increasing levels of  inactivity and growing waistlines of children in Wales. Gareth will outline the current evidence on children's fitness, physical activity and health from studies in England and Wales and explore approaches to engaging children in activity programmes that have sound scientific support.  He will also propose how inter institutional collaboration can be harnessed to positively impact on 21st century public health and subsequent policy and strategy.

Tuesday 29 January 2013

12.30 pm-1.30 pm

Media Briefing Room, Senedd, Cardiff Bay 

Professor Gareth Stratton Directs the Applied-Sports Technology Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) Research Centre and is a founder member of the Engineering Behaviour Analytics in Sports and Exercise (E-BASE) group in the College of Engineering at Swansea University. Gareth also chaired the NICE group that produced the physical activity guidelines for children and young people in 2009, and led the sub group that wrote the physical activity guidelines for the Chief Medical Officer. Gareth also leads the Sportslinx programme that won the European Childhood Obesity Group Award in 2011. Gareth's research is interdisciplinary mainly paediatric in focus and spans community to laboratory. 

The briefing will be chaired by Professor Jonathan Bradbury, who organises the briefings on behalf of the Research Institute of Arts and Humanities (RIAH) and Swansea University. 

Please contact Helen Baldwin at RIAH, Swansea University to reserve a place. Email; h.baldwin@swansea.ac.uk.