TOP
Replace Sunday drive with Sunday walk.
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Sit up straight at work.
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Take a walk or do desk exercises instead of a cigarette or coffee break.
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Walk to a
Keep a pair of
comfortable walking shoes
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Physical ActivityRegular physical activity throughout a woman’s life is important for maintaining a healthy body, enhancing psychological well-being, and preventing premature death. Regular physical activity is associated with:
That’s the good news for women. The bad news is that women are simply not getting enough regular physical activity. As the map Proportion of U.S. Women Aged 18 Years and Older Engaging in Recommended Physical Activity shows, only 4 in 10 women are engaging in the recommended levels of physical activity. Activity decreases with age and is less common among women than men and among those with lower income and less education. |
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For women of color, the challenge is even greater: Rates of physical activity differ by race and ethnicity in a number of ways. Both personal and cultural values influence the women's physical activity behaviors.1 One study showed that less-acculturated Mexican American women—measured as those whose preferred language at home was Spanish—were more likely to report leisure-time physical activity than their more acculturated counterparts who preferred language was English.2 Women of color are more likely to lead sedentary lifestyles, never engaging in any vigorous, moderate, or light physical activities for at least 20 minutes. More than half (55.1 percent) of African American women are physically inactive, compared with 38 percent of white women. Nearly three out of five (57.2 percent) Hispanic and black non-Hispanic women (55.2) and less than half of Asian and Pacific Islander women (42.6 percent) are sedentary, compared to 36.1 percent of white non-Hispanic women.3 Population density is a factor. Although rural Hispanic women were the most likely to be physically active, only a fifth reported being regularly active. Nearly 12 percent of urban Hispanic and white women and 8 percent of urban and rural American Indian/Alaska Native women, rural white women, and urban black women reported regularly active lifestyles. Rural African American women were the least likely to be active.4 |
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Women cite three major reasons for problems in trying to increase physical activity:
Child care and monetary costs are frequently cited as barriers to physical activity. What’s a woman to do? A woman can take action for herself, for her family, for her workplace, for her community. Helpful resources exist such as Promoting Physical Activity: A Guide for Community Action. Effective community strategies include:
Effective individual strategies include:
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Physical inactivity contributes to 300,000 preventable deaths a year in the United States. Some 40 percent of deaths in the United States are caused by behavior patterns that could be modified. A sedentary lifestyle is a major risk factor across the spectrum of preventable diseases that lower the quality of life and kill Americans. Physical Activity and Physical Fitness: What Is the Difference?The Steps to a HealthierUS initiative promotes physical activity. The basic Steps message is that women need to take steps to become active physically and stay active. Physical activity is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in an expenditure of energy. Physical fitness is a measure of a woman's ability to perform physical activities that require endurance, strength, or flexibility and is determined by a combination of regular activity and genetically inherited ability. In other words, fitness is good, but physical activity is a must. Women who have been sedentary should start out slowly and gradually increase the frequency and duration of physical activity. In the case of walking, for example, the message becomes, “If you |
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are not used to daily walking, then walk slowly and take short, frequent walks, gradually increasing distance and speed.” Trying too hard at first can lead to injury.
*Scientific evidence to date supports
the statements above. Go for it!
1 Henderson, K.A., and Ainsworth, B.E. A synthesis of perceptions about physical activity among older African American and American Indian women. American Journal of Public Health 93(2):313-7, 2003. 2 Crespo, C.J.; Smit, E.; Carter-Pokras, O.; Andersen, R. Acculturation and leisure-time physical activity in Mexican American adults. Results from NHANES III, 1988-1994. American Journal of Public Health 91(8):1254–57, 2001. 3 National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey. 4 Wilcox, C.; Castro, C.; King, A.C.; Housemann, R.; Brownson, R.C. Determinants of leisure-time physical activity in rural compared with urban older and ethnically diverse women in the United States. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 54:667-723, 2000. 5 Ainsworth, B.E.; Haskell, W.L.; Whitt, M.C.; et al. Compendium of physical activities: An update of activity codes and MET intensities. Medical Science and Sports Exercise 32(9 Suppl):S498-504, 2000. |
Last updated June 2004
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