Christopher Rissel

Christopher Rissel (born 20 July 1961) is an Australian health promotion expert. The son of German migrants to Australia, he attended St Aloysius' College (Sydney) and graduated in 1979. He received a BSc Psych (Hons) from the University of New South Wales in 1985, a Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney in 1990, and PhD from the University of Minnesota (USA) in 1994.

Christopher Rissel has worked in health promotion in several Area Health Services in New South Wales. He has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and dozens of research reports. One significant project was the Australian Study of Health and Relationships, the first large scale (n=19,207) national sexual health survey of Australians,[1] covering topics including age of first sex,[2] numbers of partners[3]], prostitution,[4] BDSM,[5] circumcision.[6]

Research interests now focus on childhood obesity prevention, and the promotion of active travel,[7] particularly cycling [8] He is co-author of the report ‘Cycling: Getting Australia Moving – Barriers, facilitators and interventions to get more Australians physically active through cycling’ [9] and was invited to address the 2009 New Zealand National Cycling Conference. He led the NSW Health Promotion Demonstration Research Project Cycling Connecting Communities [10][11] from 2007 to 2009.

He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia from 1992 to 1998, and is actively involved in the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Health Promotion Association. He currently is the Director of the Health Promotion Service in the Sydney South West Area Health Service, and is Clinical Associate Professor at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney.

References

  1. ^ 1. Smith A, Rissel C, Richters J, Grulich A, de Visser R. Sex in Australia: Rationale and methods of the Australian Study of Health and Relationships. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2003; 27(2): 106-117.
  2. ^ 2. Rissel C, Richters J, Grulich A, de Visser R, Smith A. Sex in Australia: First experiences of vaginal intercourse and oral sex among a representative sample of adults. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2003; 27(2): 131-137.
  3. ^ 3. Rissel C, Richters J, Grulich A, de Visser R, Smith A. Sex in Australia: Selected characteristics of regular [[sexual relationships]]. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2003; 27(2): 124-130.
  4. ^ 4. Rissel C, Richters J, Grulich, A , de Visser R, Smith A. Sex in Australia: Experiences of commercial sex in a representative sample of adults. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Public Health 2003; 27(2): 191-197.
  5. ^ 5. Richters J, de Visser R, Rissel C, Grulich A, Smith AM. Demographic and psychosocial features of participants in bondage and discipline, 'sadomasochism' or dominance and submission (BDSM): data from a national survey. Journal of Sexual Medicine 2008; 5: 1660-1668.
  6. ^ 6. Richters J, Smith AMA, de Visser RO, Grulich AE, Rissel CE. Circumcision in Australia: prevalence and effects on sexual health. International Journal of STD and AIDS 2006; 17 (Aug): 547-554.
  7. ^ 7. Rissel C. Active travel: a climate change mitigation strategy with co-benefits for health. NSW Public Health Bulletin 2009; 20(1-2): 10-13.
  8. ^ 8. Bauman A, Rissel C. Cycling and health: an opportunity for positive change? Medical Journal of Australia 2009; 190(7): 347-348.
  9. ^ 9. Bauman A, Rissel C, Garrard J, Kerr I, Speidel R, Fishman E. Cycling: Getting Australia Moving – Barriers, facilitators and interventions to get more Australians physically active through cycling. Melbourne: Cycling Promotion Fund, 2008.
  10. ^ Rissel C, Merom D, Bauman A, Garrard J, New C, Wen LM. Current cycling, bicycle path use and willingness to cycle more - finding from a community survey of cycling in south-west Sydney, Australia. Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2010; 7:267-272.
  11. ^ Rissel C, Merom D, Bauman A, Garrard J, New C, Wen LM. The effectiveness of community-based cycling promotion: findings from the Cycling Connecting Communities project in Sydney, Australia. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2010; 7:8.

External links