Lars Borghouts is a human movement scientist and is affiliated to the Fontys School of Sports and Movement as a professor in Physical Activity and Health. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2000 at Maastricht University studying the relationship between physical activity and type 2 diabetes. Prior to his appointment as head of the Physical Activity and Health research group, he was responsible for the development of the course Master of Sports at Fontys.
“At Maastricht University my research focussed on the effects of physical activity on type 2 diabetes. On the one hand I was studying the molecular effects of exercise training on skeletal muscle in the biopsies we took from our subjects, while on the other hand I was interested in the optimal training regimen to produce favourable effects for the patients. How much exercise is enough for insulin sensitivity to improve? It is the latter, more applied approach that our research group at Fontys takes. All research we carry out should translate to the professionals in sports and movement we educate ourselves. Among them are for example physical education teachers.
The growing number of overweight children due to lack of physical activity causes much concern. We will be critically reviewing the available evidence, and researching in our own projects, which role physical education could play in providing a part of the solution to this problem. And last but not least, both our bachelor and master courses should profit from our work.”
