Kylie Ball: The Emeritus Professor Now Dedicating Her Life to Helping Others

By Isabelle Parker

When Emeritus Professor Kylie Ball first decided to work in physical activity and healthy eating at just 22 years old, she knew that she would be able to help a "broad spectrum" of people. Now 50 and retired from her full time academic career, she feels that helping others is "what we're here to do", and volunteers at an emergency relief centre to show her support towards the disadvantaged.

Prof. Ball looks back to her early career to describe her decision to work in health. She says that "everybody has to make decisions about their health all the time" and felt that nutrition, physical activity and health were areas that she thought "there could be a lot done to help people". She was "interested in understanding more about these [fields]", and says that helping people has always driven her decisions. She wants people to understand that "health doesn't need to be anything fancy", and chuckles as she explains that "you don't need to follow influencers". Instead, she urges people to do "simple things", such as "[moving] your body as much as you can, whenever you can". She tells people to "walk everywhere" and "break up the long periods of sitting down". In regards to diet, she tells people to "keep it natural and simple" and try to "follow a plant based diet as much as possible". She recommends eating "lots of fruits and vegetables" and avoiding "takeaways and […] highly processed foods and drinks".

With an academic career spanning over 25 years, Prof. Ball reflects on some of the highlights of her work. One of these was "being appointed a professor before [she] turned 40", as it "recognised years and years [she'd] been working very hard" and proved that her colleagues and peers acknowledged this. Another highlight was the Order of Australia award she received last year. Prof. Ball feels very grateful that someone had "taken the time to write an application and nominate [her] for an award like that". Now she looks towards the future, saying she remains "very active" in parts of her academic life. She provides coaching for other researchers at early stages of their careers, and runs workshops and seminars to help them. Prof. Ball is also currently working at an emergency relief program to provide emergency food and other supplies to disadvantaged people. She says that helping others makes her "very satisfied".

When asked about her life philosophy, Prof. Ball says 'Do good. As much as possible, do good, help others." She says that you "might be surprised" at the way doing so might "come back and [help] you."