Physical Activity / Exercise

An active lifestyle can help every woman. Being physically active can provide these benefits:

• reduces your risk of dying from heart disease or stroke
• lowers your risk of getting heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and diabetes
• lowers high blood pressure
• helps keep your bones, muscles, and joints healthy
• reduces anxiety and depression and improves your mood
• helps you handle stress
• helps control your weight
• protects against falling and bone fractures in older adults
• may help protect against breast cancer
• helps control joint swelling and pain from arthritis
• gives you more energy
• helps you sleep better
• helps you look better

Physical activity also is an important part of weight loss treatment. If you are overweight or obese, losing weight can lower your risk for many diseases. A growing number of women are overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, breathing problems, arthritis, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea (breathing problems while sleeping), osteoarthritis, and some cancers. Obesity is measured with a body mass index (BMI). BMI shows the relationship of weight to height. Women with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered overweight, whereas women with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese. All adults (aged 18 years or older) who have a BMI of 25 or more are considered at risk for premature death and disability from being overweight or obese. These health risks increase as the BMI rises. Your health care provider can help you figure out your body mass.

Not only are health care providers concerned about how much fat a person has, but also where the fat is located on the body. Women with a "pear" shape tend to store fat in their hips and buttocks. Women with an "apple" shape store fat around their waists. For most women, carrying extra weight around their waists or middle (with a waist larger than 35 inches) raises health risks (like heart disease, diabetes, or cancer) more than carrying extra weight around their hips or thighs