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Anne Martin

PhD : Project Title: Lifestyle interventions to improve school achievement in overweight or obese children

Email: a.martin-19@sms.ed.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 131 6514127

Location:

St Leonard's Land (Room 2.24)

Supervisor: Co-Supervisors: Dr John Sproule and Dr David Saunders

Outline Biography

I'm a second year PhD student from Germany. After a couple of years working as physiotherapist in Germany I've decided to study Nutrition. I came to Scotland to do an MSc in Human Nutrition at the University of Glasgow. Still living in Glasgow I now enjoy studying in Edinburgh.

Research interests

The broad research area I'm interested in is prevention and treatment of childhood obesity. I'm particularily interested in the relation between obesity and its associated lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviour) and cognitive function and educational attainment in children.

Research activity

My research project aims to investigate whether lifestyle interventions, intended to reduce childhood obesity, can also benefit school achievement in overweight or obese children and adolescents.

I will explore this partly by conducting a secondary data analysis of data obtained from existing studies (meta-analysis) and data generated through regular service provision (pragmatic research). The latter is a unique approach as I will analyse data from a Scottish childhood weight management programme linked with participants' individual educational attainment data. This quasi-experimental study will follow an interrupted time series design. However, the feasibility aspect of this data-linkage study is the primary outcome.

In order to gain insight into overweight/obese children's and their parents' perception and experience regarding the relationship between obesity and its associated lifestyle factors and school achievement I will carry out focus groups. The objective of this qualitative study is also to investigate the need and use of childhood weight management services to benefit school achievement.

The findings of my doctoral studies might not only identify effective lifestyle interventions to improve educational attainment in overweight or obese children but also might inform designs of larger, definite research projects on this topic.

Awards: 2010-2013 Institute of Sport, PE and Health Science scholarship, Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh

Publications

Publications/presentations for Anne Martin

Professional/teaching experience

Teaching experience

MSc Strength and Conditioning, University of Edinburgh
BSc Applied Sport Science Year 3 and 4, University of Edinburgh
Excersie Physiology 1AH/PEP, University of Edinburgh

Professional experience

Physiotherapy (musculo-skeletal)
Physical activity instructor in preschools

This article was published on Nov 22, 2012