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“Deek” helps launch Science Faculty focus on healthy activities at USC
12 July, 2004
World champion marathon runner, Robert de Castella, will officially open the Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise, (CHASE) at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) tomorrow, Tuesday July 13.
CHASE is a research centre of the University of the Sunshine Coast that assists in the understanding and enhancement of sports performance and the development of healthy activities in the community, particularly for children.
CHASE Director, Dr Brendan Burkett OAM, is a Senior Lecturer in Biomechanics at the University. Dr Burkett is also a sports scientist for the Australian paralympic swim team and will be in Athens for this years games.
Robert de Castella won gold at the 1982 and 1986 Commonwealth Games and won both the Boston and Fukuoka marathons in an athletics career spanning two decades.
Deek was named Australian of the Year and awarded an MBE in 1983 and was the director of the Australian Institute of Sport from 1990 to 1995.
Mr de Castella is now committed to improving the health and fitness of all Australians, especially children.
With Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing data showing one in five Australian children are officially obese and even more are overweight, Mr de Castella has formulated the SmartStart for Kids program.
SmartStart is a fitness testing and educational program for schoolchildren aged five to 13 years, now operating in the ACT, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland, which aims to increase awareness of the importance of physical activity and good nutrition among children, their parents, schoolteachers and educational authorities.
Mr de Castella has data on more than 20,000 children in the target age group and is able to point to significant reductions in body mass index (BMI) and improvements in cardiovascular fitness in children who have access to a regular, quality program of physical education at school.
Mr de Castella was one of the first athletes in Australia to use sports science services to improve his running performance and he is passionate about health and fitness.
He is the perfect person to open the University of the Sunshine Coast's newest research centre, the Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise (CHASE).
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