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Our Child Physical Activity, Health and Development team focuses on improving children’s physical activity levels, health and development. We work to uncover the best environments, policies and programs to facilitate physically active lifestyles for lifelong health and wellbeing.

The observed decline in children's active school transport (AST) across numerous countries over recent decades necessitates targeted, multi-level interventions to reverse this trend. However, data on young people's preferred AST interventions is lacking. This study aimed to explore children's preferences for AST interventions and assess differences between AST users and non-users among primary and secondary school students.

To examine the longitudinal effects of dog ownership and dog walking on self-reported and objective measures of physical function in mid- to older-aged adults.

Beaches are important settings for physical activity, with their quality (safety, amenities, aesthetics) influencing how well they support health. The quality of beaches may differ across neighbourhoods, with higher socioeconomic status neighbourhoods having disproportionately better access to beaches. This study examined the attributes of and activities taking place in beaches by neighbourhood socioeconomic status.

In Australia, there are concerns that unrestricted junk food advertising during sports broadcasts increases short-term junk food consumption among viewers. Therefore, the present study aimed to estimate the impact of junk food and anti-junk food advertising on consumption inclinations.

Limited research exists on the pathways through which physical activity influences cognitive development in the early years. This study examined the direct and indirect relationships between physical activity, self-regulation, and cognitive school readiness in preschool children.

Dog ownership is a potential strategy for maintaining physical activity levels and supporting healthy aging. This study examined longitudinal effects of dog ownership and dog walking on physical activity and mental health in mid-to-older aged adults. 

The environmental influences on early childhood development are understudied. The association between vegetation cover (i.e., trees, shrubs, grassed areas) in four key behaviour settings and socioemotional functioning was investigated in 1196 young children (2–5 years).

A significant number of children attend Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). ECEC is an important environment and behaviour setting for young children. Time spent outdoors is positively associated with children's physical activity levels, yet increased time spent physically active outdoors may expose young children to traffic-related air pollution, particularly in ECEC centres located in high traffic areas.

Limited research investigates early childhood education and care (ECEC) educators' involvement in promoting physical activity. The aim was to identify distinct profiles based on physical activity-related practices and psychosocial factors in ECEC educators and examine how they relate to the amount of time allocated to children's physical activity. A secondary analysis of educator-reported survey data from the Play Active study was undertaken.