Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow (former Programme Leader)
Behavioural Epidemiology and Interventions in Young People Programme

Qualifications

• PhD in Public Health and Epidemiology (EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam) – 2004
• MSc in Human Movement Sciences (VU University, Amsterdam) – 1999

Background and experience

After completing a PhD on adult physical activity promotion in Dutch general practice in (PACE), Esther moved to Cambridge in 2004 to join the newly established MRC Epidemiology Unit as a Career Development Fellow. Here, she led the development of the Unit’s research on children’s and adolescents’ physical activity with a focus on identifying correlates and determinants to contribute to the development and evaluation of physical activity promotion interventions. In 2012, she was appointed Programme Leader of the newly established ‘Behavioural Epidemiology’ programme. Esther has been lead and co-investigator on various observational and experimental research projects focussed on young people’s physical activity behaviour. She is a Deputy Editor for the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. She has contributed to NICE guidance on “Promoting Physical activity for Children and Young People”, the IOC consensus statement on the “Health and Fitness of Young People Through Physical Activity and Sport”, and the 2018 UK CMO Physical Activity Guidelines Update.

Current work and interests

Esther led the Behavioural Epidemiology and Interventions in Young People. This programme aimed to develop and evaluate interventions to promote physical activity and dietary behaviour in young people, and use observational research to further understand where, when and how health promotion interventions in young people may be targeted. Guided by the ecological model of behaviour, various domains of influence are considered in both observational and intervention research. Esther was involved in various projects focussed on assessing personal, socio-cultural and environmental determinants of physical activity behaviour (such as SPEEDY, ICAD, ROOTS, SPACE, Southampton Women’s Survey), as well as intervention trials to promote physical activity (such as GoActive, CASE, and FRESH) and systematic reviews of the literature.

In 2025, Esther took up the position of Chief Scientific Officer of the Adolescent Health Study, a major new research study focused on understanding how young people grow and develop during adolescence. The study plans to recruit at least 100,000 young people aged 8 to 18 from across the UK and follow them up for at least 10 years.

Group members

• See the Behavioural Epidemiology and Interventions in Young People programme page for list of associated group members.

Publications

• MRC Epidemiology Unit publications on Publications Database
• See for overview of all Esther’s publications: Google Scholar publications and profile

Selected publications

• Wood HE, Hajmohammadi H, Dove RE, Scales J, Tsocheva I, Chavda J, Kalsi HS, Cross L, Colligan G, Sartori L, Mitchell JE, Moon J, Lie E, Petrovic K, Keating M, Le J, Day B, Keighley A, Crichlow C, Mallari J, Beddows A, Assareh N, Stewart G, Dajnak D, Beevers S, Toffolutti V, Fletcher M, Mihaylova B, Balkwill F, Grigg J, Raine R, Mon-Williams M, van Sluijs E, Kelly FJ, Newby C, Stuart B, Gauderman WJ, Sheikh A, Randhawa G, Mudway IS, Griffiths CJ. Impact of the Ultra Low Emission Zone on lung function growth in children in London, UK: a prospective parallel cohort study. Lancet Public Health. 2026 Oct;11(10):e733-e743.
• Chalkley A, Helme Z, Silva E, Boom S, Archbold V, Bingham D, Singh A, Bloom A, Pesce C, Webster CA, Riley-Gibson E, van Sluijs E, McLoughlin G, Kåre Resaland G, Salmon J, Bartholomew J, Willumsen J, Mägi K, Clifford L, Foweather L, Mandelid MB, Kull M, Lander N, Nathan N, Vazou S, Fairclough S, Tammelin T, Daly-Smith A. Co-designing policy, practice, and research directions for whole-school physical activity: towards sustainable culture change. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2026 Jun 17;23(1):82.
• Atkin AJ, Sherar LB, Ekelund U, Hansen BH, Andersen LB, Anderssen S, Kriemler S, Kwon S, Kristensen PL, Wedderopp N, Northstone K, Jago R, Pate R, Puder JJ, Salmon J, Sardinha LB, van Sluijs EMF; International Children’s Accelerometry Database (ICAD) collaborators. Age-related change in children’s physical activity and sedentary time: The International Children’s Accelerometry Database (ICAD). PLoS One. 2025 Sep 10;20(9):e0327394.
• Maulida R, Smith AD, Weimann A, Oni T, van Sluijs EMF. Consideration of Young People’s Active Travel in National Urban Policy Documents in Asia: A Documentary Analysis. J Phys Act Health. 2024 Nov 4;21(12):1423-1434.
• Van Sluijs EMF, Ekelund U, Crochemore-Silva I, Guthold R, Ha A, Lubans D, Oyeyemi AL, Ding D, Katzmarzyk PT. Physical activity behaviours in adolescence: current evidence and opportunities for intervention. Lancet. 2021;398(10298):429-442.
• Jong ST, Croxson CHD, Foubister C, Brown HE, Guell C, Lawlor ER, Wells EK, Wilkinson PO, Wilson ECF, van Sluijs EMF, Corder K. Reach, Recruitment, Dose, and Intervention Fidelity of the GoActive School-Based Physical Activity Intervention in the UK: A Mixed-Methods Process Evaluation. Children. 2020;7(11):231.
• Guagliano JM, Armitage SM, Brown HE, Coombes E, Fusco F, Hughes C, Jones AP, Morton KL, van Sluijs EMF. A whole family-based physical activity promotion intervention: findings from the families reporting every step to health (FRESH) pilot randomised controlled trial. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020;17(1):120.
• Corder K, Sharp SJ, Jong ST, Foubister C, Brown HE, Wells EK, Armitage SM, Croxson CHD, Vignoles A, Wilkinson PO, Wilson ECF, van Sluijs EMF. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the GoActive intervention to increase physical activity among UK adolescents: A cluster randomised controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2020;17(7):e1003210.
• Winpenny EM, Smith M, Penny T, Foubister C, Guagliano JM, Love R, Astbury CC, Van Sluijs EMF, Corder KL. Changes in physical activity, diet and body weight across the education and employment transitions of early adulthood. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2020;21(4):e12962.
• Love R, Adams J, Van Sluijs EMF. Are school-based physical activity interventions effective and equitable? A meta-analysis of cluster randomised controlled trials with accelerometer-assessed activity. Obes Rev. (2019) 20(6):859-870.