About IHRR Home Staff Contacts Our Purpose Media and Promotion Annual Reports Other Services How to Get Involved Research Projects Healthy Children and Youth Education and Training in Health Settings Diabetes and Obesity Healthy Ageing Rehabilitation Studies Indigenous Health Student Projects Looking for a research project? Some potential projects are outlined below: From the clinic to the community The effect of bone density in adolescents with low motor competence Toward a National Test of Physical Fitness in Australia Exploring Service-Learning in Catholic Secondary Schools Sexual risk behaviour in men attending a peer-based Investigating outcomes-based education in Western Australia Modeling and quantification of sports surfaces during dynamic human surface interactions Lower limb mechanics during landing on unknown surfaces Reaction times and rate of force development in dancers with and without benign hypermobility joint syndrome Variability and coordination in ballet dancers Collaborations Centre for Faith Ethics & Society Nulungu Centre for Indigeonous Research General Practice and Primary Health Care Research HBF Telethon - Raine Study Events Upcoming Events Research Seminars Past Events

Healthy Children and Youth

AMPitup
This fitness and motor skills clinic runs on Mondays and Thursdays during semester and involves adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years with movement difficulties.  Research projects involve the effect of motor coordination on the validity of clinical and field-based fitness assessments and the effect of the intervention on participant fitness, skill and self perceptions.

Investigators: Prof Beth Hands, Dr Fleur McIntyre,
Contact: beth.hands@nd.edu.au
For more Information

Play5
The Play5 projects are designed to support teachers, parents and community groups to promote physical activity.  So far we have developed and evaluated the Play5 concept with primary school aged children (Play5 for kids) and with families with children aged less than 10 years (Play5 for families).

Investigators: Prof Beth Hands, Prof Helen Parker, Dr Dawne Larkin, Dr Elizabeth Rose
Contact: beth.hands@nd.edu.au

The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study
This is an ongoing research project based at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research that commenced in 1989 when 2900 mothers enrolled into the study during their pregnancy.  The University of Notre Dame team became involved in 2000 as the cohort were turning 10 years of age.  Since that time we have monitored the physical activity, motor competence and physical fitness levels of the participants.  We are also involved with teams investigating metabolic syndrome and spinal pain in this cohort.

Investigators: Prof Beth Hands, Prof Helen Parker, Dr Dawne Larkin, Dr Elizabeth Rose, Paola Chivers.
Contact: beth.hands@nd.edu.au

SHAHRP Refresh: up-dating the School Health and Alcohol Harm Reduction Project.
The School Health and Alcohol Harm Reduction Project (SHAHRP) (longitudinal study) was undertaken between 1996-1999. This study resulted in an evidenced based alcohol program for secondary school students that had a significant behavioural impact on alcohol use and alcohol related behaviours and on reducing the harm experienced by young drinkers (McBride, Farringdon & Midford, 2003). The outcomes showed that the SHAHRP program can impact on early non-drinkers and experimental use while also having an impact on early risky drinkers. The study results are important given that school based drug education is often criticised in the scientific arena for having little impact on young people’s behaviour (McBride, 2004). In 2010, the investigative team, in collaboration with the National Drug Research Centre (NDRI) has been funded by Healthway to update the program.

Investigators: Dr Nyanda McBride (NDRI); Fiona Farringdon (UNDA)
Contact: Fiona.farringdon@nd.edu.au

The relationship between motor competence, perceived motor competence and physical activity in children.
This research examines issues related to the importance of motor competence, in particular fundamental movement skills, in creating strong foundations for physical activity in young children. In an earlier study, results revealed that in young children, the motivation to be active is driven by a child’s actual skill level rather than their self-perceptions.

Investigators: Dr Fleur McIntyre, Prof Beth Hands, Prof  Helen Parker
Contact: Fleur.McIntyre@nd.edu.au

TRansport, Environment and Kids (TREK)
There are growing concerns about children’s levels of physical activity and increasing levels of overweight and obesity. Encouraging active transport among children, particularly walking to school, has been identified as one strategy to increase physical activity. However, the real potential for children to walk to school is unknown, given the design of contemporary neighbourhoods. Furthermore, there is no objective data on the extent to which the urban design surrounding schools hinders or facilitates walking to school. Thus, the overall aim of this ecological study is to examine the independent effect of the urban design of local neighbourhoods on Years 5 to 7 primary school children using active modes to travel to school and other local destinations, after adjusting for individual and social environmental factors.

Investigators: Prof Billie Giles-Corti (UWA), Dr Kimberly Van Niel (UWA), Dr Terri Pikora (UWA), Dr Anna Timperio (University of Melbourne), Prof Max Bulsara(UNDA).
Contact: Max.Bulsara@nd.edu.au