Postgraduate Course: Assessment of physical activity and body composition (SPRT11003)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Physical activity benefits physical and mental health. It promotes social connectedness, quality of life, and general well-being. However, in 2012 the Lancet declared a global pandemic in terms of a lack of physical activity. Effective measurement of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health is critical to on-going research developments in this area. This course will encourage students to critically evaluate methods for assessing physical activity, sedentary behaviour and the key health outcome of body composition. The course will also consider the evaluation of intervention programmes and will provide theoretical and practical knowledge required to collect and interpret data.
This course will be taught by research-active members of the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC) (http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/education/rke/centres-groups/pahrc). Lecture material will be supplemented with practical activities and seminars and the course will introduce skills necessary for accreditation in anthropometrical methods of assessing body composition. |
| Course description |
Within a behavioural epidemiological framework accurate measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour is essential to identify causal associations with health, to be able to quantify the size of the association and to describe dose-response relationships. Accurate measurement also allows researchers to document patterns and changes in activity over time. The first half of this course will introduce the measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour, paying particular attention to the concepts of validity and reliability. The second half of the course will focus on the measurement of the important health outcome of body composition, and include practical training in the skills necessary for accreditation in anthropometrical methods of assessing body composition. Throughout the course we will draw from recent research and consider application to practice.
It is likely the course will include sessions on:
Introduction to assessment of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health,
Calculation and interpretation of validity and reliability and agreement between different measures
Self-report measures of physical activity, energy expenditure and sedentary behaviour.
Objective measures of physical activity, energy expenditure and sedentary behaviour,
Assessment of body composition, with a particular focus on anthropometry.
Students will be encouraged to actively participate in interactive lectures and activities. Students will be set pre-class tasks to guide their reading and engagement with the material. Assignments will facilitate consideration of the lecture material and how it relates to additional research papers and application.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | No specific pre-requisites are required but please contact course organiser to discuss suitability |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | No specific pre-requisites are required but please contact course organiser to discuss suitability |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically evaluate commonly used methods for assessing physical activity, sedentary behaviour and body composition
- Make informed decisions regarding appropriate methodologies for assessing physical activity and sedentary behaviour with respect to programme needs
- Undertake a skilled assessment of body composition, using appropriate anthropometrical methods
- Employ appropriate analytical and interpretation knowledge to make sound judgements regarding physical physical, sedentary behaviour and health status.
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Reading List
Core texts for this course are:
Welk, G. (Ed). (2002). Physical activity assessments for health related research. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Morrow, J., Jackson, A., Disch, J., & Mood, D. (2005). Measurement and evaluation in human performance (3rd Edition), Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Norton, K and Olds, T (Eds). (1996) Anthropometrica: a textbook of body measurement for sports and health courses. Sydney: UNSW Press
Kaminsky, L. (2009). ACSM's health-related physical fitness manual. 3rd edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
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Additional Information
| Course URL |
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/education/graduate-school/taught-degrees/physical-activity |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
During this course students will have the opportunity to practice and develop their ability to:
1) Apply critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis to forefront measurement issues in physical activity and sedentary behaviour
2) Critically review, consolidate and extend knowledge, skills, practices and thinking in the measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour
3) Communicate with peers, more senior colleagues and specialists
4) Undertake critical evaluations of a wide range of numerical and graphical data
5) Take responsibility for own work |
| Special Arrangements |
We would welcome students from outside the MSc Physical Activity for Health programme, but students should first contact the course organiser to determine suitability. |
| Study Abroad |
N/A |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
5 x 2 hours weekly interactive lectures/workshops |
| Keywords | Anthropometry; measurement; physical activity; medicine; sedentary behaviour |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Claire Fitzsimons
Tel: (0131 6)51 6049
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Cristina Roman
Tel: (0131 6)51 6265
Email: |
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