It’s all about you – Focus on yourself for Women’s Health Week
This week is Women’s Health Week as decreed by the wonderful Jean Hailes group. It’s an entire week dedicated to all women across Australia to make good health a priority. As Jean Hailes describes it, Women’s Health Week is the time to put ourselves first, for just one week, and start making positive changes that can last a lifetime.
Running from 3 to 7 September, more than 100,000 people across the country have registered to attend a Women’s Health Week event or subscribed to receive free daily videos, podcasts, stories, recipes and much more. Landmarks across Australia will be turning pink during the campaign in celebration, including Flinders Street Station and the Sound Tube in Melbourne, Sydney Town Hall, Canberra’s Royal Mint and SkyCity Adelaide.
To kick off the week a ride took place in Melbourne with a group of riders heading into Melbourne with Lord Mayor Sally Capp. The event was supported by Bicycle Network & my friend Tina McCarthy of Wheel Women.
Incorporated into the week was the launch of the Jean Hailes fourth annual Women’s Health Survey which revealed the health needs, behaviours and concerns of women across the country. This year, 15,262 women aged 18 years or older and living in Australia responded to the survey, included me of course.
You can read the full results for yourself but I was pleased to read that 50.4% of women described their overall health as very good or excellent and that 70.3% reported doing at least two hours of moderate physical activity per week. To me that’s a great result and hopefully plenty of those 70.3% are riding bikes.
Jean Hailes for Women’s Health is a national not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving the knowledge of women’s health throughout the various stages of their lives, providing a trusted world-class health service for women.
They combine research, clinical care and practical education for women and health professionals. They aim to inspire confidence to create a healthier future for all women.
I really like some of their Facebook posts for this week including this one: “Today we delve into those ‘silent’ health topics and bring them out into the open to be seen and heard and recognised. No more whispers, no more grinning-and-bearing it. Together we’ll give your health a voice.” Well said. Check out more on the Jean Hailes for Women’s Health Facebook page.