REACH: Research into Eating, Activity and Health

REACH undertakes research to support everyone to eat well and be physically active.

Photograph of apples, a banana and exercise equipment on a yellow background.

Research Focus

REACH undertakes research to support everyone to eat well and be physically active. Good nutrition, a healthy relationship with food, and enough physical activity are all vital for our physical and mental well-being. We strongly believe that from birth to the end of life, everyone should have appropriate behavioural support to live as well as they can.

What we do

REACH undertakes research into four main areas:

(1) Understanding what shapes our energy balance behaviours (eating and activity);

(2) Understanding how energy balance behaviours influence our physical and mental health;

(3) Developing and testing interventions that aim to improve energy balance behaviours (and physical and mental health outcomes);

(4) Gathering evidence needed to inform public health policies focused on energy balance behaviours.

Expertise

We have topic expertise in: several non-communicable diseases (e.g. obesity, eating/feeding disorders, and cancer), energy balance behaviours across the lifespan (feeding/eating behaviour, diet/nutrition, and physical activity), behaviour change theory, and digital health.

We have methodological expertise in: epidemiology; behaviour genetics; intervention design; trial management; measurement of eating/feeding behaviour, dietary intake and physical activity; evidence reviews (e.g. systematic reviews and meta-analyses); and qualitative research. We are advocates of public and patient involvement and engagement (PPIE) and our research aims to include everyone and benefit everyone.

Cross-cutting themes

  1. Understanding inequalities in energy balance behaviours and uptake of behavioural interventions
  1. Methodological innovation
  1. Digital health

Group led by:

This group is led by Professor Clare Llewellyn and Professor Abi Fisher.

Group members

Research staff (UCL): 

Honorary staff:

  • Dr Alison Fildes
  • Dr Andrea Smith
  • Dr Alice Kininmonth
  • Dr Moritz Herle

Key Collaborators:

PhD students:

Research

Research projects