The LOOK Study

The LOOK study is a collaborative, multidisciplinary longitudinal study beginning in childhood and finishing in old age.  Its main objective is to determine how physical activity and early physical education impact upon quality of life not just in childhood and adolescence but right through a lifetime.

We hope the results of the study will provide health, education and policy makers with solid data on which to build cooperative plans into the 21st century. Find out more about our research.

Where are we up to?

The LOOK participants were initially 8 years of age when the study commenced in 2005. We measured them again at age 10 and 12 years. Over this period  we assessed their physical activity, fitness, body composition and nutritional intake to determine relationships of these factors with their bone health, risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, their balance and coordination, their stress levels and body image, and even their academic progress.

In late 2013 we reassessed our cohort, at 16 years of age in Year 10 at secondary school. We are currently using these data to see how physical activity and fitness relates to health and psychological well-being in the mid-teenage years. Also of interest will be whether those children who undertook specialized physical education in primary school have retained the benefits we saw when they were 12 years old.

The next measurement phase will be in 2020.

Research Alliances

The LOOK study has important support and collaboration from the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UCRISE) at the University of Canberra, The Clinical Trials Unit at the Canberra Hospital, the College of Medicine, Biology and Environment at the Australian National University, The Bluearth Foundation, ACT Pathology at the Canberra Hospital Deakin University and CSIRO Nutrition Division.