Oslo Research Centre for Physical Activity and Population Health

ORC-PAPH will generate new knowledge about how physical activity, sedentary time and physical fitness vary between different groups in the Norwegian population. Among other things, we investigate differences by age, sex and socioeconomic circumstances, the types of activity in which people participate, and how activity patterns develop over time.

Since 2005, the research community at NIH has conducted national surveillance studies among children, adolescents, adults and older adults in collaboration with the health authorities. These repeated, population-based measurements provide Norway with a unique evidence base for monitoring trends in physical activity and physical fitness and for developing evidence-based policy and public health interventions.

The Centre will further develop these surveillance studies through more representative samples, better inclusion of groups that are often underrepresented in population studies, long-term data storage and linkages to register data. We will also develop new methods, including the use of artificial intelligence, to measure and analyse physical activity and sedentary time more precisely.

ORC-PAPH will generate new knowledge about how the amount, intensity and pattern of physical activity and sedentary time affect health, disease risk and longevity. A key objective is to investigate the health benefits that may be achieved through small changes in everyday activity, reduced sedentary time, and taking more or faster steps.

By combining precise measurements from activity monitors with large population studies, register data and advanced analytical methods, we will strengthen knowledge about causal relationships. Among other things, we will investigate how physical activity and sedentary time affect the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia, mental health problems and premature death.

The Centre will also investigate how these relationships vary between different population groups and among people already living with chronic diseases. The aim is to develop a more precise evidence base for guidelines and interventions tailored to different groups within the population.

ORC-PAPH will conduct intervention and implementation studies to investigate how physical activity and exercise can be used in prevention and treatment, and how evidence-based services can be integrated into primary and specialist healthcare.

The research includes both studies of how physical activity affects health, physical function and quality of life, and studies of how effective interventions can be organised, delivered and scaled up within routine patient pathways. Relevant research areas include cardiovascular health, pulmonary health, mental health, pain and physical function.

The work builds, among other things, on experience from Exercise is Medicine Norway. The Centre will develop and evaluate models in which physical activity forms an integral part of prevention, treatment and follow-up, including in collaboration with GP practices, Healthy Life Centres and other parts of the health service.

NIH educates Health and Exercise Physiologists with specialised expertise in the use of physical activity in prevention and treatment. ORC-PAPH will contribute research and an evidence base that can strengthen the use of this expertise in health and care services.

ORC-PAPH will help ensure that research-based knowledge about physical activity, sedentary time and physical fitness is applied in national and international guidelines, public health policy, clinical practice and population-level interventions.

Translating research into action is a core task of the Centre. Through collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other national and international organisations, ORC-PAPH will be a prominent source of evidence and advice for evidence-based public health work.

The Centre will contribute to the development and revision of Norwegian, Nordic and international guidelines on physical activity and sedentary time. We will also provide data and knowledge for national and international indicator and surveillance systems.

Through factsheets, evidence summaries, seminars, webinars, dialogue meetings and research communication, we will make research accessible to public authorities, healthcare professionals, decision-makers and the general public. We will also develop practice-oriented resources that can support the health service in using physical activity in prevention, treatment and follow-up.