Women Over 50 – We Are NOT Aging Healthfully

Celebrate Healthy Aging Month

The last of the baby boomers turns 50 this month, which is also Health Aging Month. But are we baby boomers aging healthfully? Apparently not if dying from preventable diseases is any indicator. The number one cause of death in women is what most people think of as a men’s killer – cardiovascular disease. Yep, that’s what knocking women off their block. And we women die of strokes more often than men. Are you cheered up yet? Well you are still here, so that’s something to be cheery about, right?

Freak Out from these (Un)Fit Facts

What percentage of women in the US are inactive?  It’s not even Halloween, and the statistic should scare us all. 82%  This high number of sedentary women is particularly worrisome when you consider that “active” is defined as engaging in a mere 2.5 hours of exercise per week. Whaaaaat??!!  That’s an average of less than 22 minutes per day of movement.  So 82% of our nation’s women are struggling to work in even 22 minutes a day of activity.

Attain Superstar Statistics Status

Let’s hope you are a stat buster making up for the rest of the nation! If not, you can be by sneaking in at least 150 minutes of exercise per week. Need ideas how to start, restart, or up the ante? Check out some of our posts that will help you activate to health and super stats status:

How to Start an Exercise Program

I Want to Get Fit, but Where Do I Start?

How Do I Fit in Exercise When I Don’t Have Time to Exercise?

Have a good guess at the percentage of US women who are overweight? If you’ve ever been to a shopping mall in middle America, you may have a good idea.  67%. Was your guess close?

Take a gander at the Healthy Aging for Women infographic below from the University of Florida online, which offers some interesting and perhaps even motivating stats and scoop.

Call to Action: Once you’ve done that, take one more action to improve your health — subscribe to our site if you are not already part of our community. You can use either the pop-up box or the box in the sidebar.

by Kymberly Williams-Evans, MA