Grant: Project Grant

It would be hard to argue that all kids shouldn't 1) get good sleep, 2) have more time for physical activity, and 3) spend less time sitting and watching a screen just for fun - these 3 behaviours are so called movement behaviours. The problem is that we don't know very much about the movement behaviours of kids with a medical condition or disability. We think there is an ideal combination of these movement behaviours that makes kids healthy and happy. So we put together a team of scientists from around the world to find out more about what this looks like in kids with a medical condition or disability. To do this, we will follow a large group of kids who will range in age from 5 to 17 years at the start of the study. Every year for 4 years, we will make assessments about their movement behaviours and health and ask the parents about their own health too. We are especially interested to see if the changes in the kids' movement behaviours are related to changes in their health and if these changes depend on their age, whether they are a boy or girl, or their abilities and not just what disease they have. We will also do an activity that will give us a "Top 10" list of research studies to do in the future. This is done by making a special group of scientists, doctors, kids with a medical condition or disability and their parents, and organizations who help these kids and asking that group to tell us what they think is most important to study about movement behaviours. Our study is big and ambitious because this problem needs serious attention. Our study team not only includes scientists, but also trainees (people learning how to do research), doctors, and a mom and daughter with lived experience. We plan to work together for a long time to help kids, and the MOMENTUM study will give us a lot of information that can help create advice for doctors to give their patients and for researchers to design studies that are meaningful to kids and their families.