National Women’s Health Week

Here’s a Q & A about the National Women’s Health Week, courtesy of the Women’s Health website (http://www.womenshealth.gov). You can find more information and resources on the National Women’s Checkup Day as well as the 8 weeks for better health challenge there. Check out the website and start taking control of your health today.

The 10th annual National Women’s Health Week will kick off on Mother’s Day, May 10, 2009 and will be celebrated until May 16, 2009. National Women’s Checkup Day will be Monday, May 11, 2009. The eight-week Woman Challenge, an online physical activity program, starts May 10, 2009.

What is National Women’s Health Week?
National Women’s Health Week is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH). National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority.

With the theme “It’s Your Time,” the nationwide initiative encourages women to take simple steps for a longer, healthier, and happier life. During National Women’s Health Week, communities, businesses, government, health organizations, and other groups work together to educate women about steps they can take to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases. Important steps include:

1) Getting at least 2 ½ hours of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week

2) Eating a nutritious diet.

3) Visiting a health care professional for regular checkups and preventive screenings.

4) Avoiding risky behaviors, like smoking and not wearing a seatbelt.

5) Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress.

Why celebrate National Women’s Health Week?
It is important to celebrate National Women’s Health Week to remind women that taking care of themselves is essential to living longer, healthier, and happier lives. Women are often the caregivers for their spouses, children, and parents and forget to focus on their own health.

But research shows that when women take care of themselves, the health of their family improves. During National Women’s Health Week it is important to educate our wives, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and girlfriends about the steps they can take to improve their health and prevent disease. After all, when women take even the simplest steps to improve their health, the results can be significant and everyone can benefit.

When is National Women’s Health Week?
The 10th annual National Women’s Health Week will kick off on Mother’s Day, May 10, 2009 and will be celebrated until May 16, 2009. National Women’s Checkup Day will be Monday, May 11, 2009. The eight-week Women and Girls Out Moving Across the Nation (WOMAN) Challenge, an online physical activity program, runs from May 10–July 4, 2009.

Where is National Women’s Health Week celebrated?
Across America — in communities, neighborhoods, towns, cities, counties, hospitals and health centers, businesses, schools, places of worship, and recreation centers, on the Internet, and wherever else people choose to celebrate women’s health.

For more information about National Women’s Health Week activities, visit the web site at http://www.womenshealth.gov/whw or call 1-800-994-9662 (TTD: 1-888-220-5446).