The Interplay Between Obesity, Biomechanics and Fitness Within the Reverse Causation Hypothesis

ii ACKOWLEDGEMENTS A thesis is by its nature not a project of a single person; there are many to thank and acknowledge at its conclusion. First and foremost, I owe many thanks to Dr. H. John Yack, for his ceaseless guidance and support. His faith in me as a doctoral student has motivated me throughout my time at the University of Iowa. I would like also to thank Dr. Kathleen Janz, for seeing the value of this work and joining its shaping. In addition, many thanks to Dr. guidance, insight and support as thesis committee members. Thanks also to the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Iowa Physical Therapy Department. In particular, I wish to acknowledge Patricia Teran-Yengle and Shelby Francis, as well as the many students in the Gait Analysis Lab. Additional thanks are due to the many people and communities at the University of Iowa that have so enriched my time here. Dr. Rajagopal and the Indian Winterim program, the University of Iowa Diversity Office, and the Graduate Student Senate have all, in their own way, expanded my horizons far beyond the lab. Finally, I would like to thank my sister, Dr. Manpreet Kaur and my uncle Dr. Manohar Singh Batra for inspiring and guiding me, my many wonderful friends and comrades, Lindsay Fox for her love and support, and most importantly, my parents, Joginder Singh and Hardeep Kaur for raising their son.