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Home » Dr. Rachel Colley

Dr. Rachel Colley

Dr. Rachel Colley
Junior Research Chair
613-737-7600 x4118
rcolley@cheo.on.ca

Position and Rank:

  • Junior Research Chair
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
  • Cross-Appointed to the School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa

Degrees and Certifications:

  • BSc, Queen’s University (Life Sciences)
  • BPHE, Queen’s University (Exercise Physiology)
  • PhD, Queensland University of Technology (Exercise Physiology)
  • Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute

Teaching Areas:

  • Exercise physiology
  • Measurement of physical activity

Awards and Distinctions:

  • CIHR –Institute ofNutrition, Diabetes & Metabolism (INMD) Travel Award
  • International Association for the Study of Obesity Stock Conference Award
  • CIHR Research Chair on Obesity – Student Travel Awards
  • QueenslandUniversity of Technology Scholarship (2005, 2006, 2007)
  • National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) Grant in Diabetes (2004-2006)

Research Laboratory

The HALO Research Group Lab

Research Interests

  • Population surveillance of physical activity levels
  • Measurement of physical activity and energy expenditure
  • Behavioural responses to lifestyle interventions in obese children and youth
  • Development of novel lifestyle interventions for obese children and youth
  • The effect of exercise on non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)

Projects in Progress

  • Assessment of Activity Intensity in Children and Adolescents with Inherited Arrhythmia Syndromes by Combined Heart Rate and Accelerometer Monitoring (AHSC AFP Innovation Fund).
  • Co-Existent Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Obesity: Finding NEAT Targets for Intervention (Ontario Thoracic Society / Canadian Lung Association).
  • Understanding the factors that enable or inhibit physical activity engagement in obese and non-obese children (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute).
  • Comprehensive Review of the Evidence Available to Inform the Development of a Report Card on the Physical Activity of Mexican Children and Youth (CAMBIO [Canada-Mexico Battling Childhood Obesity], International Development Research Centre, Queen’s University).
  • CHEO Research Institute Summer Student Funding 2011 (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute).
  • CHEO Research Institute Summer Student Funding 2010 (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute).

Published Refereed Papers

  1. Wong SL, Colley RC, Connor Gorber S, Tremblay MS. Sedentary activity Actical accelerometer thresholds for adults. Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2011; 8: 587-591.
  2. Colley RC, Tremblay MS. Moderate and vigorous physical activity intensity cut-points for the Actical accelerometer. Journal of Sport Sciences 2011; 29(8): 783-789.
  3. Breithaupt P, Colley RC, Adamo K. Body composition measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry half-body scans in obese children. Acta Paediatrica. DOI:10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02378.x
  4. Tremblay MS, Leblanc AG, Janssen I, Kho ME, Hicks A, Murumets K, Colley RC, Duggan M. Canadian sedentary behaviour guidelines for school-aged children and youth. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism 2011; 36(1):59-64.
  5. Colley RC, Garriguet D, Janssen I, Craig C, Clarke J, Tremblay MS. Physical activity of Canadian adults: Accelerometer results from the 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Health Reports (StatisticsCanada, Catalogue no. 82-003-XPE) 2011; 22(1).
  6. Colley RC, Garriguet D, Janssen I, Craig C, Clarke J, Tremblay MS. Physical activity of Canadian children and youth: Accelerometer results from the 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Health Reports (StatisticsCanada, Catalogue no. 82-003-XPE) 2011; 22(1).
  7. Colley RC, Brownrigg M, Tremblay MS. Canada’s report card on physical activity for children and youth. G. Baquet andS. Berthoin(Eds.) Children and Exercise XXV: Proceedings of the 25th Pediatric Work Physiology Meeting, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group (London). pp.223-226, 2011.
  8. Tremblay MS, Colley RC, Saunders TJ, Healy GN, Owen N. Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Applied Physiology Nutrition & Metabolism 2010; 35: 725-740.
  9. Colley RC, King N, Hills A, Byrne N. Exercise-induced energy expenditure: implications for exercise prescription and obesity. Patient Education & Counseling 2010; 79: 327-332.
  10. Lloyd M, Colley RC, Tremblay MS. Perhaps We’re Riding the Wrong Animal: Advancing the Debate on ‘Fitness Testing’ for Children. Pediatric Exercise Science 2010; 22: 176-182.
  11. Colley RC, Connor Gorber S, Tremblay MS. Quality control and data reduction procedures for accelerometry-derived measures of physical activity. Health Reports.2010;20(4). 82-003-X.
  12. Colley RC, Hills A, O’Moore-Sullivan T, Prins J, Hickman I, Byrne N. Variability in adherence to an unsupervised exercise prescription in obese women. International  Journal of Obesity 2008;32(5): 837-844.
  13. Tremblay M, Esliger D, Tremblay A, Colley RC. Incidental movement, lifestyle-embedded activity and sleep: new frontiers in physical activity assessment. Appl Physiol, Nutr and Metab / Can J Public Health 2007;32/98:S208-S217.
  14. King, N, Caudwell P, Hopkins M, Byrne N, Colley RC, Hills A, et al. Automatic and volitional compensatory responses to exercise interventions: metabolic and behavioural barriers to weight loss. Obesity Research 2007; 15: 1373-83.
  15. Colley RC, Byrne N, Hills A. Implications of the variability in time to isotopic equilibrium in the deuterium dilution technique. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2007;61:1250-1255.

Published Contributions to Book Chapters

  1. King N, Colley RC,ByrneNM, Hills A, Blundell J. Physical inactivity, appetite regulation and obesity. In: Tsichlia G, Johnstone A, eds. Fat Matters – From sociology to science. Keswick: M&K Publishing; 2010: 105-114.
  2. Byrne N, Hills A, Roffey D, Colley RC. Tools for physical activity measurement: cutting the cloth to fit. In: Hills A, King N, Byrne N, eds. Physical Activity and Obesity.London: Smith-Gordon and Company Limited; 2006:33-50.

Published Abstracts

  1. Colley RC, Garriguet D, Janssen I, Craig C, Clarke J, Tremblay MS. Physical activity of Canadian adults: Accelerometer results from the 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Proceedings of the International Conference on Ambulatory Monitoring of Physical Activity and Movement,Glasgow, UK., May 24-27, 201
  2. Colley RC, Garriguet D, Janssen I, Craig C, Clarke J, Tremblay MS. Physical activity of Canadian children and youth: Accelerometer results from the 2007-2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Proceedings of the International Conference on Ambulatory Monitoring of Physical Activity and Movement,Glasgow, UK., May 24-27, 2011.
  3. Garriguet D, Colley RC. Using accelerometry to understand when Canadian are most (and least) active. Proceedings of the International Conference on Ambulatory Monitoring of Physical Activity and Movement,Glasgow, UK., May 24-27, 2011.
  4. Colley RC, Garriguet D, Wong S. Exploring alternative methods to estimate sleep duration using accelerometry. Presented as a poster presentation at the International Conference on Ambulatory Monitoring of Physical Activity and Movement, Glasgow, UK., May 24-27, 2011.
  5. Larouche R, Saunders T, Faulkner G, Colley RC, Tremblay MS. Impact of active school transport on physical activity levels, cardiovascular fitness and body composition: a systematic review. Proceedings of the International Congress on Enhancement of Physical Activity.Vuokatti,Finland. April 7-9, 2011.
  6. Breithaupt P, Adamo KB, Colley RC, Rutherford J. Body composition measured by dual-energy xray absorptiometry half-body scans in obese children and youth. Proceedings of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Conference 2010.Toronto,ON.
  7. Leblanc A, Saunders TJ, Larouche R, Colley RC, Goldfield G, Tremblay MS. Relation between sedentary behaviours and health outcomes in children and youth. Proceedings of the North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine and the European Group for Pediatric Work Physiology at Niagara-on-the-Lake. September 2010.
  8. Colley RC, Tremblay MS. Light-to-moderate and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity cut-points for the Actical accelerometer. Proceedings of the North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine and the European Group for Pediatric Work Physiology at Niagara-on-the-Lake. September 2010.
  9. Colley RC, Brownrigg M, Tremblay MS. The Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth: Are we impacting policy and practice? Proceedings of the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health. May 5-8, 2010 inToronto,ON.
  10. Saunders T, Colley RC, Tremblay MS. Relationship between daily steps and clustered metabolic risk in American youth. Proceedings of the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health. May 5-8, 2010 inToronto,ON.
  11. Colley RC, Brownrigg M, Tremblay MS. Canada’s 2009 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Proceedings of the International Congress on Pediatric Work Physiology, September 29 – October 2, 2009.
  12. Wong SL, Colley RC, Connor Gorber S, Tremblay MS. Development of a threshold to classify sedentary behaviour using the Actical accelerometer. Proceedings of the International Conference on Diet and Activity Methods, June 5-7 2009.
  13. Colley RC, Brownrigg M, , Tremblay MS. Synthesizing multiple data sources to assess progress in physical activity levels and translating this knowledge to policy makers: Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Proceedings of the International Conference on Diet and Activity Methods, June 5-7 2009.
  14. Willms JD, Tremblay MS, Colley RC. How do kids spend their time after school? Proceedings of the North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Science. September 2008.Colorado Springs,CO.
  15. Colley RC, Hills A, King N, Byrne N. Potential determinants of a compensatory response to exercise in obese women. International Journal of Obesity. 2008;32 (Suppl 1): S28. Proceedings of the European Congress on Obesity, May 14-17 2008,Geneva,Switzerland.
  16. Colley RC, Byrne N, Hills A, Hickman I, Prins J, O’Moore-Sullivan T. (2006) Meeting physical activity targets in a large-scale lifestyle intervention and the influence of adherence on changes in weight and body composition. Obesity Reviews. 2006;7 (Suppl 2). Proceedings of the International Congress on Obesity, 2006.
  17. Colley RC, Byrne N, Hills A, Hickman I, Prins J, O’Moore-Sullivan T. (2006) Combining accelerometry and heart rate monitoring to monitor physical activity patterns in obese women. In: Hills A ed. Physical Activity + Obesity International Congress Satellite Conference.Brisbane,Australia.
  18. Colley RC, Byrne N, Hills A. Quantifying the effect of physical activity on total energy expenditure in obese women. Obes Res. 2005;13:A24. Proceedings of the North American Society for the Association for the Study of Obesity Conference (NAASO), 2005.
  19. Colley RC, Byrne N, Hills A. The utility of heart rate monitoring to estimate the energy cost of self-paced walking. Proceedings of the Australasian Association for the Study of Obesity.Adelaide,Australia; 2005.

Research Reports

  1. Active Healthy Kids Canada, Scientific Officer: Colley, RC (2011) Don’t Let This Be the Most Physical Activity Our Kids Get After School –Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children & Youth.Toronto: Active Healthy KidsCanada.
  2. Active Healthy Kids Canada, Lead Author: Colley, RC (2010) Healthy Habits Start Earlier than You Think –Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children & Youth.Toronto: Active Healthy KidsCanada.
  3. Active Healthy Kids Canada, Lead Author: Colley, RC (2009) Active Kids are Fit to Learn – Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children & Youth.Toronto: Active Healthy KidsCanada.
  4. Active Healthy Kids Canada, Lead Author: Colley, RC (2008) It’s Time to Unplug Our Kids –Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children & Youth.Toronto: Active Healthy KidsCanada.
  5. Tremblay MS, Colley RC, Prince S. Report to the Public Health Agency of Canada: Technical Paper on the WHO Physical Activity Indicator Proposed as a Method of Measuring Progress towards the Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World. Final submission: October 2008.
  6. Colley RC, Connor Gorber S, Willms D, Tremblay MS (2008) Development of analysis procedures for the objective measurement of physical activity patterns using accelerometry in the Canadian Health Measures Survey. Technical Report. Submitted to the Health Information Research Division at StatisticsCanada – Government ofCanada on March 31, 2008.

Administrative and Professional Activities/Interests*

  • Certified Exercise Physiologist, Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology
  • Panel Member (2008-Present) – Monitoring, Surveillance and Evaluation Expert Panel for the Champlain Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Network (CCPN)
  • Canadian Obesity Network (Member)
  • The Obesity Society (Member)
  • International Association for the Study of Obesity (Member)
  • North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine (Member)

Mini Biography

Dr. Rachel Colley completed her PhD in Brisbane, Australia at the Queensland University of Technology and joined the CHEO Research Institute in August 2007 as a post-doctoral research fellow. To the HALO research group, she brings experience in applied exercise physiology with specific skills in the measurement of energy expenditure and body composition. Dr. Colley is currently the Scientific Officer for Active Healthy Kids Canada and led the research and writing of the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Report Cards on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. She is leading the physical activity measurement team for the Canadian Health Measures Survey at Statistics Canada. She is leading a new study investigating the influence and interplay of fitness, motor skills, activity preferences and self-efficacy on physical activity engagement in healthy weight and overweight children. She also recently obtained funding to explore non-exercise activity thermogenesis in obese and non-obese children with and without obstructive sleep apnea. Finally, Dr. Colley is one of two researchers recently selected to become the inaugural HALO Junior Research Chairs, funded by the CHEO Foundation and The Lawson Foundation.

Other Tidbits:

Rachel leads an active lifestyle via daily walks with her dog Marley, yoga, cycling, ringette and a wide range of outdoor activities.