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Foundation Board of Advisors
Benedicte Deforche; Ph.D.
Dr. Deforche is an assistant Professor in Kinesiology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy in Belgium. She studies the effectiveness of a residential weight control program for extremely obese children and adolescents in RC Zeepreventorium (Belgium) and is the founder of the exercise program for overweight children (as part of an ambulant treatment) in the Ghent University Hospital. Dr. Deforche has contributed to more than forty scientific papers and book chapters related to the role of physical activity in the prevention and treatment of overweight, especially in children and adolescents. These contributions include: (Deforche B, Lefevre J, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Hills AP, Duquet W, Bouckaert J. Physical activity and health-related physical fitness in obese and non-obese Flemish youth. Obes Res 2003, 11: 434-41; Deforche B, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Tanghe A, Hills AP, Bouckaert J. Post-treatment phone contact: a weight maintenance strategy in obese youngsters. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2005, 29:5:543-6.; Deforche B, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Tanghe A. Attitude towards physical activity in normal-weight, overweight and obese adolescents. J Adolesc Health 2006; 38:5: 560-8. Deforche B, Hills A, Worringham C, Davies P, Murphy A, Bouckaert J, De Bourdeaudhuij I. Balance and postural skills in normal-weight and overweight prepubertal boys. Int J Ped Obes 2009, 4: 175-182). Dr. Deforche current research focuses on psychosocial and environmental correlates of (changes in) physical activity and overweight in children and adolescents, motor competence in overweight children and predictors of long-term weight maintenance in children and adolescents. Earlier, she was an academic visitor at the Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia) in the lab of Prof. Dr. A. Hills. Dr. Deforche is a member of the International Physical Environmental Network (IPEN) and the International Society of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA). She is an editorial board member of the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity and an active reviewer for many international journals (Pediatrics, International Journal of Obesity, International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, Obesity Research, Journal of Adolescent Health, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise...). Dr. Deforche teaches the subjects Biometrics and Anthropometry, Research Methods and Statistics in Exercise Sciences and Revalidation Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. She holds a doctor degree in Physical Education and Exercise Sciences from Ghent University in Belgium. The topic of her Ph.D. was "Physical activity and fitness in overweight and obese youth".
