A few years ago I joined OurFutureHealth, a fascinating project to build up a really solid data set on factors affecting health in the UK. They recently sent me an email with some of their data on physical activity, and I found this graph particularly interesting.
It shows the percentage of men and women meeting physical activity guidelines at different ages (150 minutes moderate activity plus resistance training twice a week). There may be a bit of sample bias here, as participants in this programme are more likely to be interested in their health, but it’s still interesting.
Most of their lives, men are more active, with women particularly falling behind in activity levels during their 30s. But something changes as they hit 40, and by 65 more women than men are doing enough activity.
Many factors doubtless contribute to this, but it seems very likely that this dip reflects the impact of child-rearing, which still has a disproportionate impact on women’s lives.
And that steadily increasing red line reminds me of all the amazing women I know who have managed to rediscover themselves as their children become more independent.
Women who somehow triumph over the challenges of fledging children, aging parents, menopause havoc and the multiple ways that aging makes exercise more of a challenge.
Who make time for themselves and their physical and mental health.
Each data point a woman making a difference for herself and those around her.
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