缅北禁地

Dr João Greca was appointed as a Research Associate on the MapMe research project at 缅北禁地 in July 2021. The MapMe2 study is funded by the and aims to improve parental acknowledgement and understanding of childhood overweight and obesity within the . Dr Greca completed his PhD in in 2019, with a personal scholarship (£150K) awarded from the Ministry of Education of Brazil. His doctoral thesis used a multimethod research design to investigate factors that may hinder physical activity engagement in children with overweight. These factors included joint loading during walking and cycling, associations between physical activity intensities, pain and injuries and barriers to active commuting to school as perceived by parents, which was explored using qualitative methods. His research primarily encompasses the use of wearable technology to assess physical activity and sedentary behaviour, factors influencing physical activity engagement and active travel as a means to tackle overweight and obesity in childhood. He has achieved Level 3 Diplomas in Gym Instructing and Personal Training, Nutrition, Anatomy, and Physiology. Dr Greca is also a Fellow of Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) and an associate member of . He is a member of the Faculty of Medical Sciences Research Ethics Committee at 缅北禁地.

Active Travel and Overweight in Children

Research indicates that engaging in active travel to school not only increases daily physical activity but also enhances concentration, diminishes sedentary behaviour, and could promote healthier weight management among children. My research interest includes understanding the efficacy of interventions involving active travel and the mechanisms involved that can promote healthier growth in children.

Research Interests



• Testing Multimodal Active Travel Interventions to Reduce Sedentary Behaviours and Overweight in Children

• Using Wearable Technology to Understand The Role of Physical Activity Intensities during Active Travel

• Developing and Understanding Interventions to Increase Active Travel in Children

Current Research

Can embedding the , a tool to improve parental acknowledgement and understanding of childhood overweight and obesity, in the lead to improved child weight outcomes at one year?

Completed research projects

2014 - 2019

2010 - 2012

2007 - 2009

Contributing Lecturer

NUT3011 - Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health

NUT3002 - Research Project and Thesis, BSc Food and Human Nutrition

Teaching Experience

Dr João Greca has experience teaching physical education classes for adults with special needs and has worked as a physical education teacher for high school students. He has prepared his own lecturing material and has conducted workshops for parents on preventing sedentary behaviour and obesity in childhood. Dr Greca has also volunteered as a mentor at Brunel University London, where he had the opportunity to assist Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences BSc undergraduate students with academic challenges, career goals and professional development.

During his PhD in Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences at Brunel University London, Dr Greca was a member of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club and had the opportunity to deliver lessons and overall guidance to students who were members of the club.

Dr Greca has held lectures and contributed to teaching modules in the Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences BSc degree at Brunel University London. He has also provided teaching sessions and inductions in a biomechanics laboratory to undergraduate students as well as prepared tutorials and workshops for undergraduate and master's students on using different equipment and software, such as a fully instrumented treadmill (Bertec) with reaction force plates and triaxial accelerometers (ActiGraph) and the software Cortex (motion capture software for biomechanics) and ActiLife (actigraphy data analysis software platform).

• Articles

  • Evans EH, Jones CM, Adamson A, Jones AR, Basterfield L, Greca JPA, Sermin-Reed L, Patterson M, McSweeney L, Dhami R, Ells L, Gahagan A, Robinson T, Shahrokhabadi MS, Teare D, Tovee MJ, Araujo Soares V. . British Journal of Health Psychology 2025, 30(1), e12784.
  • Greca JP, Korff T, Ryan J. . International Journal of Health Promotion and Education 2023, 61(5), 266-275.
  • Greca JP, Korff T, Ryan J. . Perceptual and Motor Skills 2021, 128(5), 1959-1974.
  • Arruda GA, Coledam DHC, Greca JP, Teixeira M, Pires-Júnior R, Oliveira AR. . Human Movement 2020, 21(2), 32-41.
  • Arruda GA, Coledam DHC, Oliveira AR, Neri FDS, Greca JPA, Cardoso JR. . Revista Paulista de Pediatria 2019, 37(4), 450-457.
  • Bigliassi M, Greca JP, Barreto-Silva V, Chierotti P, Oliveira AR, Altimari LR. . Journal of Sports Sciences 2019, 37(5), 525-536.
  • Greca JP, Ryan J, Baltzopoulos V, Korff T. . Journal of Biomechanics 2019, 87, 13-18.
  • Pires-Júnior R, Constantino-Coledam DH, Greca JP, Arruda GA, Teixeira M, Oliveira AR. . Human Movement 2018, 19(2), 3-10.
  • Coledam DHC, Ferraiol PF, Greca JP, Teixeira M, Oliveira AR. . Revista Paulista de Pediatria 2018, 36(2), 192-198.
  • Greca JP, Silva DA. . Perceptual and Motor Skills 2017, 124(1), 105-117.
  • Coledam DHC, Ferraiol P, Pires-Júnior R, Greca JP, Oliveira AR. . Ciência & Saúde Coletiva 2017, 22(12), 4051-4060.
  • Greca JP, Arruda GA, Constantino-Coledam DH, Pires-Júnior R, Teixeira M, Oliveira AR. . Revista Andaluza de Medicina del Deporte 2016, 9(1), 12-16.
  • Texeira M, Constantino-Coledam DH, Pires-Júnior R, Greca JP, Arruda GA, Oliveira AR. . Human Movement 2016, 17(4).
  • Greca JP, Silva DA, Loch MR. . Revista Paulista de Pediatria 2016, 34(3), 316-22.
  • Constantino-Coledam DH, Ferraiol PF, Arruda GA, Pires-Júnior R, Teixeira M, Greca JP, Oliveira AR. . Revista de Salud Pública 2013, 15(6), 823-836.
  • Nascimento MA, Januári RSB, Greca JP, Gerage A, Oliveira AR, Pina FLC. . ConScientiae Saúde 2012, 11(1), 103-110.

• Report

  • de Aguiar Greca JP, Andrew M, Spence S, Pennington L, Woodside JV, McSweeney L, Tanner L. . Figshare, 2024.