Arto Laukkanen

Contact search available for JYU staff members.

Web page: https://staff.jyu.fi/Members/arillauk

ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9722-0258

X (formerly Twitter) handle: https://twitter.com/arto_laukkanen

LinkedIn address: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arto-laukkanen-a23b6668/

ResearchGate address: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arto-Laukkanen

ResearcherID: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/54782838300

Scopus Author ID(s): https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=54782838300

General description

Senior lecturer in Sport Pedagogy. The main area of teaching is physical education in basic movement environment (Course in Movement Observation, Intermediate Sport Didactics, Advanced Course on Basic Movement and Motor Learning) and supervision of theses (candidate, graduate and doctoral theses). The main focus area of the research is physical education, interaction promoting physical activity in child-adult relationships, developmental mechanisms of children's and youth's physical activity behavior. I am working as principal investigator of the Taiturit research in 2021-2023.

Active JYU affiliations

Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Senior Lecturer

Previous, inactive or other affiliations

Department of Sport Sciences (University of Jyväskylä), Grant Researcher, Ended

Research interests

Physical inactivity in children is widespread and increases with age. Inactivity associates with increased risk of health problems. Therefore, the ongoing Taiturit project will test mechanisms leading to physical activity in children. The project adopts a geographically randomized and representative longitudinal design with altogether three time points, at children’s ages of 3-7-years, 7-10-years and 10-12-years (aimed amount of children = 932). The study will test two main hypotheses. First, motor competence in early and middle childhood predicts physical activity later in childhood and health-related fitness is the mechanism which explains this association. Second, social support from important others in early and middle childhood predicts physical activity later in childhood and physical literacy explains this association. New knowledge leads to better tools for physical activity services and help to develop more effective physical activity interventions in families, health care and sport clubs.