Rate My Professor Thomas Yates

Yates has co-developed the SMART Work intervention, a randomized controlled trial conducted with Loughborough University, which reduced office workers' sitting time by 80 minutes per day using height-adjustable desks and behavioral strategies, resulting in enhanced work engagement, job performance, reduced fatigue, fewer musculoskeletal issues, and improved quality of life, alongside a £3 return per £1 invested through productivity gains. His influential publications include 'Sedentary time in adults and the association with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death: systematic review and meta-analysis' (Diabetologia, 2012), cited over 2,500 times; 'Dose-response associations between accelerometry measured physical activity and sedentary time and all cause mortality: systematic review and harmonised meta-analysis' (BMJ, 2019), cited over 2,100 times; and 'The effects of high-intensity interval training on glucose regulation and insulin resistance: a meta-analysis' (Obesity Reviews, 2015). This body of work has shaped major public health guidelines, including the UK's 2019 Chief Medical Officer Physical Activity Guidelines as a member of the sedentary behaviour expert group, the World Health Organisation’s guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour, the American Diabetes Association's Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes Position Statement, the 2018 USA Physical Activity Guidelines, and the American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention. Recent research led by Yates using UK Biobank data reveals that for inactive 60-year-olds, adding a daily 10-minute brisk walk associates with 0.9 extra years of life expectancy for women and 1.4 years for men, underscoring the profound impact of modest activity increases on longevity.