Dr. Chaput is a Senior Scientist with the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the CHEO Research Institute and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa. His research focuses on obesity prevention, health promotion, and lifestyle behaviour modification (e.g., improving sleep, increasing physical activity, reducing screen time, and eating better). Dr. Chaput has published more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles and is highly cited. He serves on many journal editorial boards and advisory committees, has contributed to a large number of conferences around the world, and received several awards for his research. Outside work he likes to travel, run in the forest, and play with his daughter.
Related News
Research Projects
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Associations between problem technology use, life stress, and self-esteem among high school students
16/02/2024
Adolescence marks a critical biological, social, and psychological growth and development period. Adverse influences on emotional and psychological well-being can thus impair healthy development within this period of vulnerability [1, 2]. Significant links between self-esteem and life stress have been identified, with both high life stress and low self-esteem during adolescence being strong predictors of poor health and development [1, 3, 4]. These adverse effects include an increased risk of developing mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety [3, 5]. Additionally, problem technology use, which refers to technology usage in a manner which elicits biopsychosocial harm, has also been associated in a systematic review with poor health and developmental outcomes due to adverse effects on sleep and mental health [6].
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Changes in breakfast and water consumption among adolescents in Canada: examining the impact of COVID-19 in worsening inequity
06/02/2024
Prospective annual survey data collected pre- (October 2019-March 2020) and post-COVID-19 onset (November 2020-June 2021) the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, and Sedentary behaviour (COMPASS) study. The sample consisted of 8,128 students; mean (SD) age = 14.2 (1.3) years from a convenience sample of 41 Canadian secondary schools. At both timepoints self-reported breakfast and water consumption were dichotomized as daily or not. Multivariable logistic generalized estimating equations with school clustering were used to estimate differences in maintenance/adoption of daily consumption post-COVID-19 based on demographic factors, while controlling for pre-COVID-19 behaviour.
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Physical activity and recreational screen time change among adolescents in Canada: Examining the impact of COVID-19 in worsening inequity
28/08/2023
This paper provides a prospective longitudinal analysis assessing social demographic factors related to changes in MVPA and screen use behaviours among adolescents during the first full school year after the emergence of COVID-19. Sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and SES were related to differences in MVPA or screen use behaviours, sex/gender discrepancies in MVPA were further modified by racial/ethnic differences. Unsurprisingly (Clemens et al., 2020; Golberstein et al., 2020; Armitage and Nellums, 2020), the results seem to suggest that for many populations, pre-existing inequitable gaps have widened.
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Economic burden of low muscle strength in Canadian adults.
04/08/2023
Abstract The economic cost associated with low muscle strength in Canadian adults is unknown. The total annual economic burden of low muscle strength in Canadian adults represents 2.2% of the overall burden of illness costs in 2021. We estimated that $546 million per year would be saved if the prevalence of low handgrip strength was reduced by 10%.
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Sleep duration change among adolescents in Canada: Examining the impact of COVID-19 in worsening inequity.
04/08/2023
The purpose of this analysis was to assess which sub-population (based on interactions of race/ethnicity, sex/gender, socioeconomic indicators, and urbanicity) experienced larger change in sleep behaviours from 2019 to 2020 (before the onset of the pandemic) to the 2020–2021 school year (during the 2nd and 3rd waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada (Wu et al., 2021)) in a prospective cohort of adolescents living in Canada. We expected that the COVID-19 pandemic would worsen inequities so the sleep duration gains would be less seen in racialized adolescents, girls, and those coming from lower SES backgrounds.