Launched in 2004, the Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research (CPAN) is part of the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences.  It is a joint initiative of two of Auckland University of Technology's Research Institutes: National Institute for Public Health and Mental Health Research and Institute of Sport and Recreation Research New Zealand.

CPAN is a multi-disciplinary research team that focuses on investigating the health impacts of nutrition, physical activity and exercise, obesity, and other lifestyle-related diseases across the lifespan. It is involved in numerous research projects which contribute internationally to the evidence-base of biological, behavioural, and environmental determinants of health. Emphasis is on cross-disciplinary research and the Centre involves researchers from the fields of psychology, nutrition, medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, gerontology, public health, physiology, exercise science,and biostatistics. 

CPAN has five main specialist areas and conducts various research projects within each field.

Children and Youth Research Group
The Children and Youth Research Group is dedicated to finding new ways to promote healthy living in young people, and builds on the work of several recently graduated PhD students. In recent years, we have coordinated large-scale surveys of children’s health behaviour (both cross-sectional and longitudinal), developed novel school-based interventions for promoting physical activity and nutrition, and evaluated numerous health promotion programmes in young people.Our research team is particularly interested in the role of physical activity and healthy lifestyles in the prevention and management of childhood obesity.

Environment and Health

Understanding how urban design variables relate to physical activity, obesity, health, and travel behaviours is a key focus for improving population-level health. CPAN has provided the first national evidence of these associations, and use a range of spatial and objective tools to investigate these relationships throughout the country and with different populations. CPAN members also contribute to an international project in this field and have expertise in environments which support walking and cycling as travel modes

Workplace Health

CPAN staff are active in understanding and using workplaces as a setting for health promotion, with a special interest in promoting healthy eating, physical activity, and smoking cessation. Research has focused on understanding both the personal health outcomes from a variety of workplace health programmes and the business outcomes when employees are more active, eating better, and smoking less. Initial evidence shows that the return on investment in lifestyle programmes for the employer are positive. Healthy employees are less absent and more productive on a day to day basis at work.

Older Adults Research Group

The Older Adults Research Group is dedicated to finding new ways to promote healthy living in older adults, and builds on the work of several enrolled and recently graduated MHSc and PhD students. In recent years, members of our research group have investigated the benefits of a variety of physical activities for older adults as well as determining the influence of a range of factors on the motives for and barriers to participation in physical activity for this age group. Research into the effects of various forms of physical activity have assessed group exercise, resistance training, dancing and the Green Prescription on the level of physical activity, functional ability in common activities of daily living and quality of life of older adults. These projects are consistent with the primary goals of our research team which is to investigate the role that physical activity and healthy lifestyles play in the maintenance of quality of life and the management and prevention of chronic conditions for older adults and to determine the factors associated with commencing and adhering to a physical activity programme.

Body Composition and Metabolism Research Centre
From conception the shape of our bodies, where fat is located, how much muscle we have and the potential for lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases is determined by what is eaten and how much activity we take. This research centre, national and international collaborators have established a reputation for the measurement of body composition and metabolism of different ethnic groups - now the focus is broadened and projects are focussed on what can be done to reverse the trend of increasing fatness, inactivity and risk for lifestyle disease.