INfant, Child, and Youth Health Lab

Mission:

The INfant, Child & Youth Health (INCH) Lab at Kansas State University is part of a global INCH Lab research network, which includes sites located at Brock University (St. Catherines, Canada; PI: Dr. Matthew Kwan) and the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia; PI: Dr. John Cairney). The INCH Lab is dedicated to exploring how physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep patterns contribute to the healthy development of young people. Our work ultimately aims to promote healthier lifestyles during key developmental stages that have lasting impacts throughout the lifespan. Given the complex challenges of accomplishing this goal, we work at the intersection of multiple disciplines, including but not limited to: exercise psychology, behavioral medicine and time-use epidemiology. We conduct primary data collection studies in our local community, in addition to leveraging access to publicly available datasets for secondary analyses that have important implications at the state and national level. This work is crucial because it addresses the multifaceted influences on young people's health, informing interventions that can shape healthier futures on both an individual and societal level.

Research Areas:

Characterizing physical activity patterns

We study the prevalence and long-term patterns of physical activity by analyzing both self-reported and device-assessed data. This approach allows us to capture detailed insights into how physical activity behaviors vary across different life stages, demographics, and over time, helping us identify key trends and changes that inform targeted health interventions. Current work involves using high resolution data from wearable activity trackers to characterize physical activity maintenance and recovery following interruptions or stressors (e.g., summer holidays, transition to college, childbirth).

Explaining physical activity behavior

We apply theories to identify psychological mechanisms that drive young people to start and sustain physically active lifestyles. An emphasis of our recent work is on understanding key factors such as behavioral regulation skills, identity and habit, that help individuals consistently translate their intentions to be active into actual physical activity behavior. Such work helps to inform the development of targeted interventions that effectively promote long-term engagement in physical activity.

Integrative whole day approach to healthy development

Although our research primarily focuses on physical activity, examining its independent associations with health indicators overlooks the complex interplay with other behaviors we engage in over the course of a day, namely, sedentary time and sleep. Adopting a whole day approach to healthy development acknowledges the collective influence of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep – collectively referred to as 24-hour movement behaviors – in relation to healthy development. Beyond examining the importance of 24-hour movement guideline adherence, we use advanced statistical techniques such as compositional data analysis to consider these unique time-use properties and identify optimal balances of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep throughout the day for promoting health and wellbeing.