Physical activity across age and study: a guide to data in six CLOSER studies

Explore the measures used to assess diverse aspects of physical activity within and across six CLOSER partner studies

This guide was created as part of CLOSER Work Package 15: Socio-economic differentials in physical activity by age and cohort – enhancing the CLOSER cohort resource to inform research, policy and practice.

Introduction

• Objective and outline of this guide
• Definitions and scientific importance
• Physical activity domains
• Data collection methods
• Developing an inventory of physical activity measures

Learn more about the studies and their measurement of physical activity

• 1946 National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD)
• 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS)
• 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)
• Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)
• Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)
• Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS)

Explore the measures by physical activity domain: Cross-study coverage and comparability

• Summary of cross-study comparisons
• Leisure time physical activity
• Occupational activity
• Active travel
• Domestic activities
• Sedentary behaviour

Electronic appendix: Index of all documented measures

• Search and explore the complete list of documented physical activity measures

Further information

• Acknowledgements and copyright information for this guide
• References for this guide
• Download the full guide as a PDF

Note this guide currently covers measures collected by the named studies up to February 2023.

This guide was written by Meg Fluharty, Aase Villadsen, Aaron Kandola, Lucy Griffiths, Dara O’Neill, Snehal Pinto Pereira, Nicholas Timpson, Rachel Cooper, and David Bann.

Version 2 was updated by Charlotte Campbell and the CLOSER team in March 2023.

To cite the guide, please use the following suggested citation:

Fluharty, M., Villadsen, A., Kandola, A., Griffiths, L., O’Neill, D., Pinto Pereira, S., Timpson, N., Cooper, R., Campbell, C., & Bann, D. (2023). Physical activity across age and study: a guide to data in six CLOSER studies (Version 2). London, UK: CLOSER.