The Science Award of the DOSB is the most prestigious award in the German field of sports and exercise science. Every two years, the DOSB invites outstanding dissertations and habilitations as applications for the award. For the period 2023/2024, the DOSB received 42 applications, the highest number of applications they had ever received in the more than 70-year award history. In total, the DOSB awarded six prizes including three third prizes, one second prize, and two first prizes. Carina received the first prize for her dissertation “Children’s and Adolescent’s Physical Activity and Health: The Role of Urban-Rural Living and Natural Environments”, which she wrote at the Institute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. Carina investigated urban-rural differences physical activity among children and adolescents in the MoMo-Study, a large physical activity cohort study including children and adolescents in Germany. She found that physical activity declined, and screen time increased in rural areas across the last 15 years. This applied especially to girls, adolescents, and children living close to green space in rural areas. In cities, physical activity remained stable, mostly due to increased engagement in sports club physical activity. The results highlight the need for targeted physical activity interventions in rural areas, especially among pediatric populations prone to high physical inactivity.
Carina now continues physical activity research in the Childhood Cancer Research Group under the supervision of Prof. Dr. med. Claudia Kuehni, with the goal to assess and promote physical activity among childhood cancer survivors.
