Research summary
Obesity rates among children and youth in Canada have nearly tripled in the past 30 years—and those who are obese are at higher risk of developing a range of health problems. Dr. Marie-Ève Mathieu, Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Juvenile Obesity, aims to develop better tools to help prevent children from becoming obese.
She and her research team are identifying the best time to exercise and the relationships between children’s and youth’s living conditions, behaviours and habits. They are also studying the mechanisms that underlie obesity, and evaluating new guidelines for preventing obesity in children. Mathieu’s work has already shown that optimizing the timing of exercise during the day can improve a young person’s nutritional health. Now, she and her research team are trying to better understand the full potential of physical activity to make a real impact in preventing obesity.