Event Details

How to make physical activity more common, for more people, more of the time? A public Lecture by Professor Steven Blair.

Sedentary habits are extremely prevalent in most countries, as we have reduced the need for physical activity at home, on the job and during leisure time over the past few decades. In the UK, an average of 28.7% of adults are inactive, meaning that they have deskbound jobs, no regular physical activity program, and many remain sedentary at home rather than engaging in leisure time activities. With such a sedentary lifestyle, these individuals are at a much higher risk for many health conditions and even death than those who are moderately active and fit.

In the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, researchers studied more than 50,000 women and men who completed clinical examinations, including a maximal exercise test in the laboratory to measure fitness. These individuals were then followed for many years for health status and risk of death. Researchers found that 16-17% of the deaths could be attributed to low fitness. This was far higher than other risk factors, including obesity and smoking, for mortality.

Professor Steven Blair will present the various societal, environmental and individual approaches that need to be considered, evaluated and implemented to address this major public health problem, and to make physical activity more common, for more people, more of the time.

An insightful lecture that will make you want to get more steps in throughout the day, so put on your trainers and join us on Thursday 22 November at the Storey!

Doors open at 6pm for tea and coffee, and the talk begins at 6.30pm with the opportunity to ask questions afterwards.

About Professor Steven Blair

Steven N. Blair is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Exercise Science and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina. Dr. Blair is a Fellow in the American College of Epidemiology, Society for Behavioral Medicine, American College of Sports Medicine, American Heart Association, The Obesity Society, The European Society of Preventive Medicine, Retired Fellow: The Royal Society of Medicine-London, and American Kinesiology Academy; and was elected to membership in the American Epidemiological Society.

He has delivered lectures to medical, scientific, and lay groups in 50 states and 50 countries. His research focuses on the associations between lifestyle and health, with a specific emphasis on exercise, physical fitness, body composition, and chronic disease. He has published more than 700 papers and chapters in the scientific literature, and is one of the most highly cited exercise scientists with over 60,000 citations to his body of work, and an h-Index of 122. He has been listed as one of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds by Thompson Reuters. He was the Senior Scientific Editor for the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health.

Image credits: Professor Steven Blair - Professor Steven Blair; Getting active: a 21st century challenge - World Obesity Federation