What's involved in the study
After an initial screening meeting, we will ask you to attend the laboratory at the University of Bath on five separate occasions. These visits will be undertaken within a period of 2 to 3 weeks, lasting between 10 minutes and 2 hours. During these visits, you will be asked to:
- wear a small wrist-worn device which monitors physical activity levels for 7 days
- undertake a treadmill-based fitness test
- allow us to measure the energy you expend at rest
- allow us to take blood samples during 4 of the laboratory visits
- consume personalised meals which will be provided and tailored to your specific energy requirements for two separate days
Please note: Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, participants will not be required to attend the university for the study until the social distancing guidance permits safe reopening of the laboratories to research volunteers.
Eligibility
We are looking for men and women who:
- are aged between 25 and 60 years
- do not smoke
- do not take vitamin D supplements (and have not taken any within the last 3 months)
- have not experienced a change in body weight of more than 5% (of total body weight) in the last 6 months
What you'll get for taking part
You will receive invaluable, detailed physiological health data for participating in this study. This data will include a detailed report of your resting metabolic rate, energy expenditure and fitness. When the whole study is completed, you will also receive data on your blood vitamin D metabolites.
Furthermore, you will be making a potentially invaluable contribution to scientific knowledge that will pioneer new findings in this area of research.
You will also be reimbursed for any travel to and from the University.
Confidentiality
All identifiable data will be stored in a locked cabinet or in a password protected spreadsheet on the University’s servers. For this reason, only the lead investigator and principal supervisor will be able to identify participants. As a participant, you will be able to access your own data upon request. This study has received ethical approval.1