Physical Activity and Health with a Year Abroad

Physical activity and health examines the relationship between human movement and wellbeing at every scale, from the cellular mechanisms by which exercise affects the body to the population-level patterns of physical inactivity and their public health consequences. It is an applied science that combines exercise physiology, health psychology, epidemiology, and public health to understand both how the body responds to activity and why people choose to be active or inactive, and what can be done about it at individual, community, and policy levels. The evidence that regular physical activity prevents disease, supports mental health, and improves quality of life across the lifespan is now overwhelming, and the people trained to understand and act on that evidence are increasingly in demand.

At the University of East Anglia, this programme includes a year abroad as part of its four-year full-time structure, giving you the opportunity to spend time studying physical activity and health at a partner university in another country. Studying this subject internationally is particularly valuable because patterns of physical activity, the diseases associated with inactivity, and the public health systems that address them vary substantially across countries, and exposure to different national approaches broadens your understanding of the field considerably. UEA has strong research credentials in health sciences and connections to the NHS in the East of England, enriching the applied dimension of the degree.

You will study exercise physiology, the psychology of behaviour change, research methods in health and physical activity, the epidemiology of physical inactivity, and the design and evaluation of physical activity promotion programmes. The year abroad adds international depth to this foundation.

Graduates move into health promotion, public health agencies, NHS services, community sport, clinical exercise physiology, research, and health charities, with many also continuing to postgraduate study in public health, exercise science, or health psychology.