Catherine Draper

I have a background in Psychology and the social sciences, and obtained my PhD in Public Health in 2005 from the University of Cape Town (UCT). I completed a post doctoral research fellowship from 2006-2009 in the UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, and was in a research post within this unit (now the Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, UCT) from 2010-2017. I am now an Associate Professor in the SAMRC/Wits Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit; I previously held a Senior Researcher position in this unit from 2018-2020.

My research interests include the development and evaluation of community-based health promotion interventions, and I am particularly interested in the preschool age group and early childhood development and health. I led the initiative to develop South African 24-hour movement guidelines for the early years (released December 2018), and I was a member of the World Health Organization Guideline Development Group for guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep in children under 5 years of age, and an international observer for the Under 5’s Expert Working Group for the UK physical activity guidelines. I am currently the President of the International Society of Physical Activity and Health, and a Fellow of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.