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Portrait of Grant Tomkinson

Grant Tomkinson

  • Professor, Education, Health & Behavior
    • physical fitness, exercise, and anthropometry

Contact Info

Office Address

Hyslop Sports Center Room 220
2751 2nd Ave N Stop 8235
Grand Forks, ND 58202-8235

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Dr Grant Tomkinson has a Bachelor of Sports Science (Exercise Science) degree from the University of New South Wales, and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) degree and a Doctorate (PhD) in Human Movement from the University of South Australia (UniSA). He is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Public Health Education at the University of North Dakota (UND), and an Adjunct Professor with the School of Health Sciences at UniSA. He is the Associate Editor for the Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness, the former Chair of Active Healthy Kids Australia (AHKA), and the former Asia-Pacific Lead for the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA). He was the Project Leader for the AU$1 million Anthropometric Survey of the Royal Australian Navy (ASRAN) and for the AU$1.2 million Australian Warfighter Anthropometric Survey (AWAS).

His research interests include temporal trends in the physical fitness, physical activity and adiposity of young people, and anthropometry, with a particular focus on 3D anthropometry and the digit ratio. He has 80 refereed publications, has delivered 46 invited/keynote scientific conference presentations in 10 countries, and has won A$5.1 million (US$3.9 million) in research funding. Using historical data on over 75 million young people from 50 countries, his research was the first to conclusively show that young people’s aerobic fitness has in fact declined worldwide since about 1975 and has plateaued (in high income countries) since 2000. His research has informed policy at an international level, with contributions to policy in Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom, and to the International Olympic Committee’s consensus statement on Fitness and Health of Young People through Sport and Physical Activity. He is a Young Tall Poppy Science Award winner.

Fundamentals of Physical Conditioning (KIN 326) 

Exercise Testing and Prescription (KIN 446) 

Advanced Exercise Physiology 1 (KIN 535)

Ex Phys Lab: Anthropometry and Body Composition (KIN 539)

Publications (2016 to present)

Tomkinson GR, Lang JJ, Tremblay MS. Temporal trends in the cardiorespiratory fitness of children and adolescents representing 19 high- and upper-middle-income countries between 1981 and 2014. Br J Sports Med. 2019;53:478–486. DOI: 1136/bjsports-2017-097982.

Tomkinson GR, Lang JJ, Léger LA, Olds TS, Ortega FB, Ruiz JR, Tremblay MS. Response to criticisms of the 20 m shuttle run test: deflections, distortions and distractions. Br J Sports Med. 2019 Feb 6. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-100348.

Fraser BJ, Blizzard L, Tomkinson GR, Lycett K, Wake M, Burgner D, Ranganathan S, Juonala M, Dwyer T, Venn AJ, Olds T, Magnussen CG. The great leap backward: changes in the jumping performance of Australian children aged 11–12-years between 1985 and 2015. J Sports Sci. 2019;37(7):748–754. DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2018.1523672.

Buchan DS, Knox G, Jones AM, Tomkinson GR, Baker JS. Utility of international normative 20 m shuttle run values for identifying youth at increased cardiometabolic risk. J Sports Sci. 2019;37(5):507–514. DOI: 1080/02640414.2018.1511318.

Lamoureux NR, Fitzgerald JS, Norton KI, Sabato T, Tremblay MS, Tomkinson GR. Temporal trends in the cardiorespiratory fitness of 2 525 827 adults between 1967 and 2016: A systematic review. Sports Med. 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-1017-y.

Tomkinson GR, Carver KD, Atkinson F, Daniell ND, Lewis LK, Fitzgerald JS, Lang JJ, Ortega FB. European normative values for physical fitness in children and adolescents aged 9–17 years: results from 2 779 165 Eurofit performances representing 30 countries. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52:1445–1456. DOI: 1136/bjsports-2017-098253.

Lang JL, Wolfe Phillips E, Orpana HM, Tremblay MS, Ross R, Ortega FB, Silva DAS, Tomkinson GR. Field-based measurement of cardiorespiratory fitness to evaluate physical activity interventions. Bull World Health Organ. 2018;96:794–796. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.18.213728.

Debenedictis TA, Fraysse F, Milanese S, Tomkinson G, Billing D, Furnell A, Thewlis D. The simulation of the whole-body vibration experienced during military land transit. Hum Factors Mech Eng Def Saf. 2018;2:8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41314-018-0015-z. 

Lang JJ, Chaput JP, Longmuir PE, Barnes JD, Belanger K, Tomkinson GR, Anderson KD, Bruner B, Copeland JL, Gregg MJ, Hall N, Kolen AM, Lane KN, Law B, MacDonald DJ, Martin LJ, Saunders TJ, Sheehan D, Stone MR, Woodruff SJ, Tremblay MS. Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with physical literacy in a large sample of Canadianchildren aged 8 to 12 years. BMC Public Health. 2018;18(Suppl 2):1041. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-018-5896-5.

Klapprodt KL, Fitzgerald JS, Short SE, Manning JT, Tomkinson GR. Relationships between the digit ratio (2D:4D) and game-related statistics in professional and semi-professional male basketball players. Am J Hum Biol. 2018:e23182. DOI: 1002/ajhb.23182.

Silva DAS, Lang JJ, Barnes JD, Tomkinson GR, Tremblay MS. Cardiorespiratory fitness in children: Evidence for criterion-referenced cut-points. PLoS One. 2018;13(8):e0201048. DOI: 1371/journal.pone.0201048.

Lowery MR, Tomkinson GR, Peterson BJ, Fitzgerald JS. The relationship between ventilatory threshold and repeated-sprint ability in competitive male ice hockey players. J Exerc Sci Fit. 2018;16(1):32–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesf.2018.03.003.

Lang JL, Tomkinson GR, Janssen I, Ruiz JR, Ortega FB, Léger L, Tremblay MS. Making a case for cardiorespiratory fitness surveillance among children and youth. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2018;46(2):66–75. DOI: 1249/JES.0000000000000138.

Fitzgerald JS, Johnson L, Tomkinson G, Stein J, Roemmich JN. Test-retest reliability of jump execution variables using mechanography: a comparison of jump protocols. J Sports Sci. 2018;36(9):963–969. DOI: 1080/02640414.2017.1346818.

Lamoureux NR, Tomkinson GR, Peterson BJ, Fitzgerald JS. Relationship between skating economy and performance during a repeated-shift test in elite and subelite ice hockey players. J Strength Cond Res. 2018;32(4):1109–1113. DOI: 1519/JSC.0000000000002418.

Lang JJ, Belanger K, Poitras V, Janssen I, Tomkinson GR, Tremblay MS. Systematic review of the relationship between 20m shuttle run performance and health indicators among children and youth. J Sci Med Sport. 2018;21(4):383–397. DOI: 1016/j.jsams.2017.08.002.

Lang JJ, Tremblay MS, Léger L, Olds TS, Tomkinson GR. International variability in 20?m shuttle run performance in children and youth: who are the fittestfrom a 50-country comparison? A systematic literature review with pooling of aggregate results. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(4):276. DOI: 1136/bjsports-2016-096224.

Dyer M, Short SE, Short M, Manning JT, Tomkinson GR. Relationships between the second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) and game-related statistics in semi-professional female basketball players. Am J Hum Biol. 2018;30(1):e23070. DOI: 1002/ajhb.23070.

Lang JJ, Tremblay MS, Ortega FB, Ruiz JR, Tomkinson GR. Review of criterion-referenced standards for cardiorespiratory fitness: what percentage of 1 142 026 international children and youth are apparently healthy? Br J Sports Med. 2017. DOI: 1136/bjsports-2016-096955.

Tomkinson JM, Tomkinson GR. Digit ratio (2D:4D) and muscular strength in adolescent boys. Early Hum Dev. 2017;113:7–9. DOI: 1016/j.earlhumdev.2017.07.013.

Ross KJ, Tomkinson GR, McGregor B, Ayres OC, Piscitelli D. Addition of the apical oblique projection increases the detection of acute traumatic shoulder abnormalities in adults. Emerg Radiol. 2017;24(4):329–334. DOI: 1007/s10140-017-1483-9.

Dale MJ, Coates AM, Howe PRC, Tomkinson GR, Haren MT, Brown A, Caldow M, Cameron-Smith D, Buckley JD. No effect of a whey growth factor extract during resistance training on strength, body composition, or hypertrophic gene expression in resistance-trained young men. J Sports Sci Med. 2017;16(2):230–238.

Frick NA, Hull MJ, Manning JT, Tomkinson GR. Relationships between digit ratio (2D:4D) and basketball performance in Australian men. Am J Hum Biol. 2017;29(3):e22937. DOI: 1002/ajhb.22937.

Tomkinson G, Daniell, N, Fulton A, Furnell A. Time changes in the body dimensions of male Australian Army personnel between 1977 and 2012. Applied Ergon. 2017;58:18–24. DOI: 1016/j.apergo.2016.05.008.

Tomkinson GR, Lang JJ, Tremblay MS, Dale M, Leblanc AG, Belanger K, Ortega FB, Léger L. International normative 20 m shuttle run values from 1 142 026 children and youth representing 50 countries. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51(21):1545–1554. DOI: 1136/bjsports-2016-095987.

Tremblay MS, Barnes JD, González SA, Katzmarzyk PT, Onywera VO, Reilly JJ, Tomkinson GR. Global Matrix 2.0: Report card grades on the physical activity of children and youth comparing 38 countries. J Phys Act Health. 2016;13(11 Suppl 2):S343–S366. DOI: 1123/jpah.2016-0594.

Tremblay MS, González SA, Katzmarzyk PT, Onywera VO, Reilly JJ, Tomkinson GR. Introduction to the Global Matrix 2.0: Report card grades on the physical activity of children and youth comparing 38 countries. J Phys Act Health. 2016:13(11 Suppl 2):S85–S86. DOI: 1123/jpah.2016-0641

Schranz N, Olds T, Boyd R, Evans J, Gomersall S, Hardy L, Hesketh K, Lubans DR, Ridgers N, Straker L, Vella S, Ziviani J, Tomkinson GR. Results from the Australian 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. J Phys Act Health. 2016;13(11 Suppl 2):S87–S94. DOI: 1123/jpah.2016-0345.

Vella SA, Schranz NK, Davern M, Hardy LL, Hills AP, Morgan PJ, Plotnikofff RC, Tomkinson G. The contribution of organised sports to physical activity in Australia: Results and directions from the 2014 report card on physical activity for children and young people. J Sci Med Sport. 2016;19(5):407–412. DOI: 1016/j.jsams.2015.04.011.

Straker LM, Howie EK, Cliff DP, Davern MT, Engelen L, Gomersall SR, Ziviani J, Schranz NK, Olds TS, Tomkinson GR. Australia and other nations are failing to meet sedentary behaviour guidelines for children: Implications and a way forward. J Phys Act Health. 2016;13(2):177–188. DOI: 1123/jpah.2015-0026.

Doctor of Philosophy (Human Movement). University of South Australia (UniSA) (2004)

Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours 1). UniSA (1999)

Bachelor of Sports Science (Merit). University of New South Wales (1998)

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