Our inaugural winner holds crowds captive in Toronto and Montreal

When we launched the Bloomberg Manulife Prize in May last year, we were excited, ambitious and set the standard high for would-be applicants. But we could never have imagined that our inaugural winner would be such a world-renowned leader in his field, or that his message would be so simple and easy for us implement into our daily lives.

On the evening of Wednesday, January 11th, the MaRS centre in Toronto was packed full of McGill grads and friends, prize founders, sponsors, and media there to hear Dr. Steven Blair deliver this message - and he did not disappoint. After warm introductions from Vice-Principal Marc Weinstein, Dean Hélène Perrault, and Principal Heather Munroe-Blum, the South Carolina professor delivered a fascinating talk on what he has learned over four decades of research in the field of active health.

An engaging and funny speaker, Dr. Blair - who by his own admission is short, fat and balding, but in better shape than most of us - spoke about his concern that the 'obesity cartel' is distracting our attention away from the real public health problem of the 21st Century: physical inactivity. He argued again and again, with impressive supporting data, that weight is of much less importance than fitness, and that if we begin to incorporate more exercise into our lives, the obesity epidemic will take care of itself.


Following the presentation, moderator Beatrice Politi, health reporter from Global Toronto, put some thought-provoking questions to Dr. Blair, followed by queries from an eager audience. The night ended with wine, hors d'oeuvres and a line of fans waiting to speak with our richly-deserving winner.

The following day, another 300 souls braved much colder conditions to join us in the ballroom of the McGill Students Union in Montreal, where Dr. Blair gave a lunchtime presentation - expanding on many of the themes he had outlined in Toronto. Guests munched on a healthy brown-bag lunch while moderator Jill Barker - health columnist for The Gazette - and a PhD student from the faculty of education put their questions to him.

We could not have hoped for a winner who so embodies the values of this prize, and we wish him every success in the future. His message - 30 minutes of exercise per day - is a modest goal for us all, but as Dr. Steven Blair has shown, it is one of the most important lifestyle changes we could ever make.

Congratulations Dr. Blair, and all who were involved in making our prizegiving events such a success. We have high hopes for the calibre of future winners and are excited about the Bloomberg Manulife Prize in 2012.


In the meantime, keep an eye on our facebook and twitter feeds for up-to-date active health news, views and tips. You can also find photos from both of our January events on our flickr page.

2011 Winner Announced!

We are delighted to announce that the winner of this year's Bloomberg Manulife Prize is Dr. Steven Blair, a leading exercise scientist who has proven that all it takes to live longer and healthier is 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day.

Widely regarded as the creator of a new area of epidemiological research linking physical activity, decreased mortality, and health benefits, Dr. Blair is a professor of exercise science at the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina. Seen as an academic leader in his field, he has advised governments and health organisations, has published over 500 scientific papers and book chapters, and is one of a handful of people outside the U.S. Public Health Service to be awarded the Surgeon General’s Medallion.

The work that won him the inaugural Bloomberg Manulife Prize is based partly on a 40-year study involving more than 80,000 individuals. His research has some fascinating conclusions, most notably, that overweight individuals who are nevertheless fit have a much lower mortality rate than slimmer individuals who are inactive.

Today, he devotes much of his time to public health issues, promoting the importance of physical activity to lay and scientific audiences around the world. He has also been influential in helping policy makers craft physical activity guidelines that promote the conclusions of his research.

To read more about Dr. Blair and the prize, check out our website: http://www.mcgill.ca/bloomberg-manulife/

Avoiding baby couch potatoes

In a bid to prevent problems of obesity and low levels of fitness from an early age, Britain's health department has now released new activity guidelines - for babies and toddlers.

While it may seem that very young children are adequately active in learning to crawl and walk, it has been determined that in reality, too many youngsters are spending the majority of their time in baby carriers and seats, often in front of a television screen. 

"Physical activity should be encouraged from birth, particularly through floor-based play and water-based activities in safe environments," the guidelines read. New parents are being advised that children under five who can walk should get around three hours of physical activity per day.

Infants who can't walk aren't exempt from the guidelines. It's recommended they do physical activity through "tummy time" - time spent on their stomach, engaging in such activities as rolling and playing on the floor - reaching for and grasping objects, pulling, pushing, playing with other people and parent-and-baby swim sessions.

It also recommended that parents in the U.K. limit babies' sedentary time in terms of watching television, sitting in seats or carriers, and even in walking aids or bouncers that constrain movement.
 

For the time being, children under five are excluded from Canada's physical activity guidelines, which call for children ages five to 11 and teens 12 to 17 to do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Mark Tremblay, chairman of the CSEP's physical activity guidelines committee said similar recommendations should be in place in Canada within a year.

CBC covers today's prize launch

As CBC points out, this prize couldn't come at a more vital time:

"Only about 15 per cent of adults and seven per cent of children move enough to get substantial health benefits, Statistics Canada said in January.

Earlier targets of 90 minutes daily for youth ages five to 17, and 30-60 minutes daily for adults have been lowered to 60 minutes for youth and 150 minutes a week for adults."

Read their article here

Globe and Mail article on the Bloomberg Manulife Prize

A great article in Canada's national paper today, The Globe and Mail, which talks about the prize and interviews its co-founder, Lawrence Bloomberg, and Hélène Perrault, dean of McGill’s Faculty of Education

Mr. Bloomberg, 68 and in great shape, explains why he felt a research prize was the best way to support this area of health and well-being, and gives us a glimpse into his own healthy lifestyle.

“It makes me feel good,” he said. “I do it at a pace that I think anyone can do.”
Read the full article here

So what's this prize all about?

There are people who believe passionately that for real, positive change to come about, sometimes we've got to stop talking and start doing.

Lawrence S. Bloomberg, a McGill MBA grad with a distinguished career in the financial sector, decided that it was time to make a difference to North Americans and their lifestyle choices, and so he, in conjunction with the McGill faculty of Education and corporate partner Manulife Financial, set up The Bloomberg-Manulife Prize.

Aimed at supporting and rewarding research related to the promotion of active health, the prize is valued at $50,000 CDN, and will be offered each year to an academic whose research over the past five years has made a key contribution to our well-being. The money will be offered as a research stipend  to further enhance his or her work in the field.Towards the end of the year, a ceremony will honour the winning researcher, who will also be invited to deliver an address at The Bloomberg-Manulife Lecture and Roundtable at McGill University.