Why cross the ocean to learn about sedentary behavior and physical activity in Portugal, when you could just enroll in a kinesiology class on campus?
Well, for Professor Dane Cook and Academic Program Manager Morgan Shields in the Department of Kinesiology, the program leaders for the UW Movement and Medicine in Portugal program, there are major benefits to gaining a cross-cultural perspective when learning about how individual lifestyle choices can impact health. It offers students an opportunity to view a country and its people through a different lens, compare U.S. and European health models, and connect more deeply than they would as a tourist.
Thirty UW–Madison students — largely kinesiology majors — signed on for this opportunity in the summer of 2023. “It was a really great first group of students. Really open minded, inquisitive, and up for anything,” said Shields.
Following a week of online instruction, the group headed to Lisbon for two weeks.
In Portugal the students had daily lectures about the science of sedentary behavior. They also had plenty of opportunities to explore the country and engage in excursions and activities. They enjoyed a bike ride through Lisbon, for example, explored the city of Porto on a walking tour, and even took a surfing lesson.
“We were applying what we were learning every single day we were there,” said Cook. “Rather than just looking around and saying, oh there’s a statue over there, now you’re looking at the citizens of the city. And you’re looking at their transportation, health care, diet, based on the guest lectures we had. All of that is this dynamic mixture of what’s going on in your head as you’re experiencing their culture.”
“That made it such an enriching experience because your focus is different than if you were just there for vacation and trying to find fun things to do,” Cook added.
As Celeste Soto, a UW–Madison health promotion and health equity major, explained in a blog post: “In the U.S. I notice individuals, like me, being more sedentary outdoors than in Portugal. In Portugal, I’ve noticed a lot of group or community activities to promote physical activity in parks. This is really important because interventions with an emphasis on social group activities are very successful when making individuals more active.”
“I am so glad this was the course I decided on for my study abroad experience,” Soto said. “Studying sedentary behavior has been a rewarding experience, and I have developed a genuine love and passion for this subject that I wish to learn more about in the future.”
