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 develop and evaluate how physical activity and exercise can be used in the prevention and treatment of disease. We will contribute research-based knowledge on the effects of physical activity and exercise in different population and patient groups, and on how evidence-based interventions can be implemented and scaled up within the health service.

The research includes both effectiveness studies and implementation research. Among other things, we will investigate how interventions can be adapted to different population and patient groups, integrated into comprehensive patient pathways, and implemented in primary and specialist healthcare. The work is carried out in collaboration with health services, public authorities, user groups and other relevant stakeholders.

The work builds on experience from, among other initiatives, Exercise is Medicine Norway (EIM Norway), which is being embedded within the Centre’s activities.

NIH educates 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, both as practising professionals and as members of multidisciplinary teams.

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, professional and academic contributions, seminars, webinars and research communication, we will make research accessible to public authorities, public administration, health services, practitioners and the general public. In collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, we will also contribute to greater knowledge of effective interventions that can increase physical activity levels in the population.