Amanda joined Born in Bradford as a Senior Research Fellow in March 2020. She is part of the research team evaluating the ‘Join Us: Move. Play’ (JU:MP), programme which is taking a place-based, whole-systems approach to increase physical activity and improve outcomes for children and young people in Bradford. Amanda is currently leading the evaluation of a home-based physical activity programme (www.jumpathome.org) and a systematic review of interventions targeting children’s physical activity behaviour in the home. She is also leading the monitoring and evaluation of local physical activity projects commissioned by JU:MP, and contributing to the development of training materials to enhance the knowledge, skills and confidence of JU:MP providers around monitoring and evaluation.

Amanda has a background in quantitative and qualitative research, ranging across sports performance, men’s health and health service evaluation, and has research interests in physical activity, active travel and greenspace. Prior to joining BiB, Amanda co-developed an evaluation service within the Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group, evaluating an intervention aiming to reduce paediatric referrals, and a Type II diabetes remission programme. She also co-led the State of Men’s Health in Leeds project on behalf of Leeds City Council. Her PhD explored the impact of pre-acclimatisation and inspiratory muscle training on physiological and perceptual responses to exercise at high altitude.

Why you enjoy working at BiB

I ‘jumped’ at the chance when I saw an opportunity to work on a project that was really focused on improving children’s physical and mental wellbeing and prevention of poor health outcomes in later life. I feel very lucky to be working in such an innovative department and getting to work on projects that align with my own passions.

Favourite toy when you were a child

I don’t actually recall having a favourite toy as such but I remember enjoying playing with My Little Ponies, Flower Fairies, a plastic toy tree house with people inside, and board games (particularly Mousetrap and Ghost Castle).

Favourite pastime when not at work

Fell-running in the Yorkshire Dales, Lake District and Peak District

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Marie Frazer, Amanda Seims, Michael J Tatterton, Bridget Lockyer, Daniel Bingham, Sally Barber, Andy Daly-Smith, Jennifer Hall, (2023). Child and family experiences of a whole-systems approach to physical activity in a multiethnic UK city: a citizen science evaluation protocol. BMJ, 13(2), DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069334,
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Daniel D Bingham, Andy Daly-Smith, Amanda Seims, Jennifer Hall, Lucy Eddy, Zoe Helme, Sally E Barber, , (2023). Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Whole-System Intervention to Increase the Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years (Join Us: Move Play, JU:MP): Protocol for a Quasiexperimental Trial. JMIR DOI: 10.2196/43619,
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Amanda L. Seims, Jennifer Hall, Daniel D. Bingham, Amy Creaser, Anastasia Christoforou, Sally Barber, Andy Daly-Smith, (2023). Interventions targeting children and young people’s physical activity behavior at home: A systematic review. PLOS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289831,
Amanda Seims, Susannah Walker, Imogen Clark, Sufyan Abid Dogra, (2022). Make Space for Girls: Designing Greenspace & Other Public Spaces to Reflect the Needs of Teenage Girls. In: Morton, S (ed). Designing Interventions to Address Complex Societal Issues (edited by S. Morton). New York: Routledge.
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Daniel D. Bingham, Andy Daly-Smith, Jennifer Hall, Amanda Seims, Sufyan A. Dogra, Stuart J. Fairclough, Mildred Ajebon, Brian Kelly, Bo Hou, Katy A. Shire, Kirsty L. Crossley, Mark Mon-Williams, John Wright, Kate Pickett, Rosemary McEachan, Josie Dickerson, Sally E. Barber on behalf of the Bradford Institute for Health Research COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Group, (2021). Covid-19 lockdown: Ethnic differences in children’s self-reported physical activity and the importance of leaving the home environment; a longitudinal and cross-sectional study from the Born in Bradford birth cohort study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity DOI: 10.1186/s12966-021-01183-y,
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Jennifer Hall, Daniel D. Bingham, Amanda Seims, Sufyan Abid Dogra, Jan Burkhardt, James Nobles, Jim McKenna, Maria Bryant, Sally E. Barber & Andy Daly-Smith , (2021). A whole system approach to increasing children’s physical activity in a multi-ethnic UK city: a process evaluation protocol. BMC DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-12255,