Posted 11/12/2008

Blair’s 25-years of trials and studies helped establish value
of exercise as weapon against disease

NEW ORLEANS -- Dr. Steven Blair of the Arnold School’s Department of Exercise Science has been honored by the American Heart Association with its Population Research Prize for leading major population studies that established the benefits of aerobic exercise in achieving cardio-respiratory fitness.

Steven Blair

"Over the past 25 years, clinical trials and observational studies led by Dr. Blair have provided the world with solid scientific evidence of the efficacy of physical activity as a weapon against disease," said Association President Dr. Timothy J. Gardner in presenting the prize, including a $5,000 honorarium.

Gardner made the presentation Nov. 9, at the opening of the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2008 at the New Orleans convention center.

Foremost among Blair’s studies has been the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, which provided some of the first major evidence of the importance of cardio-respiratory fitness to health in a large group of adult women and men, Dr. Gardner said.

The aerobics center study showed that physically fit individuals have about a 50 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death than their sedentary peers do. Blair’s many other studies include a finding that lower fitness levels increase the risk of high blood pressure.

“This research has provided important contributions to our understanding of the health benefits of physical activity,” the AHA president said. He said Blair’s work was a major factor in the American Heart Association’s decision to recognize physical inactivity and low cardio-respiratory fitness as a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

From 1980 to 2002, Dr. Blair was director of epidemiology and clinical applications at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. He currently is professor of exercise science, epidemiology and biostatistics at USC.
For more information about the American Heart Association, visit the organization’s website: www.americanheart.org.