Barbara Ainsworth, Ph.D., MPH
Professor

Dr. Ainsworth's research relates to physical activity and public health and focuses on the assessment of physical activity in populations, the evaluation of physical activity questionnaires, and on identifying neighborhood environmental supports for physical activity. Dr. Ainsworth teaches courses on grant writing, physical activity and public health, physical activity and nutritional epidemiology. Dr. Ainsworth is best known as the lead author for the Compendium of Physical Activities, an exhaustive list of the energy cost of human physical activities. She is a core member for the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) development and evaluation team and serves as the translation coordinator for the questionnaires that reside on the IPAQ website (www.ipaq.ki.se). Dr. Ainsworth is a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Scientific Advisory Committee and serves on the Editorial Board for the journals, Physical Activity and Health, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Public Health Nutrition, and is senior editor for the PCPFS Research Digest. Dr. Ainsworth has lectured in many countries and holds honorary academic appointments at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. She is a fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine, Research Consortium of AAHPERD, American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, and the North American Society of HPERD Professionals. Dr. Ainsworth serves as the president-elect of the Southwest ACSM and is a recent ACSM National Citation Award recipient. Dr. Ainsworth mentors master’s and doctoral students interested in examining physical activity trends in populations, understanding physical activity in minorities and low education, assessment of physical activity, and identifying environmental factors associated with physical activity.

Selected References

• Ainsworth BE, Jones DA, Macera CA, et al. Comparison of the IPAQ and BRFSS Physical Activity Questionnaires: NPAWLS 2002. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006;38:
• Dolan SH, Williams DP, Moore CG, Ainsworth BE, Shaw JM. Development and Reproducibility of The Bone Loading History Questionnaire. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006;38(6):1121-31.
• Yore MM, Bowles HR, Ainsworth BE, Macera CA, Kohl HW III. Single- Versus Multiple-Item Questions on Occupational Physical Activity. J Phys Act Health. 2006;1:102-111.
• Ainsworth BE. Movement, mobility and public health. Quest, 2005;57:14-26.
• Hooker SP, Wilson DK, Griffin SF, Ainsworth BE. Social and safety related environmental perceptions for physical activity in African American and white adults. Prev Chronic Dis, 2005;2(4):1-10. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2005/oct/05_0048.htm
• Addy CL, Ainsworth BE, Kirtland KA, Wilson DK, Sharpe P, Williams J, Neff L, Kimsey D. Association of social and physical environmental supports for physical activity and walking behaviors. Am J Public Health 2004;94:440-442.

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