By Maria Jauhar, M.D.
More than 50,000 American women are expected to take part in local health and fitness events today at more than 500 community resource locations on Wednesday. It’s a focused celebration to do what women always have done for each other – share the secrets of living.
Now in its 15th year, the National Women’s Health & Fitness Day is held every year on the last Wednesday in September. The Health Information and Resource Center established Women’s Day to encourage women to take control of their health, to learn the facts they need to make smart health choices, and to make time for regular physical activity.
Take Control
The giving, nurturing role women generously adopted through history made it easy to sometimes set aside their own well-being. To fully realize one’s own place in the priorities of career, family, and community has taken some tuning-up. It’s not as easy as it sounds to see and claim a woman’s own birthright.
More than any other single goal, National Women’s Health & Fitness Day is designed to raise that awareness and sensitivity through sharing and demonstrating those practices that continue improving the quality, outlook and longevity of women’s lives.
Learn the Facts
What we “always knew” in the last century about women’s health was never what it was cracked up to be. And the facts about it changed somewhat as women took on new challenges over the past 50 years. So there is new knowledge to catch up with. One blunt way to see it is that, as women excelled in career paths men used to dominate, women became more vulnerable to health threats that used to be thought of as mainly the concerns of men. Rates of heart attack and stroke, for example, have joined breast cancer as hazards women take a watchful stance on now.
Make Smart Choices
Many of the most serious threats to women’s health are related to occupations that swing from stressful to sedentary, with no “time for me” in between. Lifestyle plays a part in the top threats to women’s health, and so regular physical activity and smart food choices play a big role in prevention.
Make Time
The importance of taking time for regular physical activity and health awareness is what Women’s Day is all about, so walking events, exercise and sports demonstrations, health screenings, and health information workshops are hosted by community resources ranging from colleges to retirement centers, from health clubs to hospitals – more than 500 of them from coast to coast.
How can you do your part? Invite a friend to join you today on your fitness routine – walk, jog, golf, gym, swim – whatever your thing might be, share it. And if you haven’t had a checkup recently, now may be the time to do so. To schedule an appointment with us, call 912.897.6832 or use our online appointment request form.
