Poll: More Women Concerned With Weight Than Health
This AP-iVillage poll was a bit of a downer, I thought…
Half the women surveyed in a new Associated Press-iVillage poll aren’t down with their weight – even the 26 percent of respondents whose body mass index (BMI) is in the normal range.
But apparently women aren’t as concerned with health as with girth: of the 1,000 respondents, just one third said they don’t like their physical condition – despite the fact that obesity and a sedentary lifestyle increase the risk of ailments like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
“So many women think more about the number on the scale than whether their blood pressure or cholesterol is normal,” says registered dietitian Keri Gans, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “They really don’t think about disease risk as much as they do about their weight.”
…The poll, which was described in an AP article on Yahoo.news, also found that women exercise for a median of just 80 minutes per week, which means that half the women do even less exercise.
When we lived in Kettering, OH, the gym we used was owned by the city and housed in the Rec Center. There was also a senior citizens’ center in the building, so it was not unusual to see older people using the fitness facilities. I used to chat with some of these folks, and boy – did I ever hear stories! A lot of them either had health issues themselves (i.e., osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease), or else had spouses with serious problems…and I heard the same line over and over: “If I only knew then, what I know now.”
And it goes deeper than that…I also took care of my mother for the last 5 years of her life, and it was no picnic. Mom had serious cognitive/memory issues – she was ok for “hard-wired” tasks, but couldn’t take in new information. Needless to state, taking care of her really inspired me to put my back into my training, to maximize my chances of not ending up like her. If nothing else, I owe it to my kids to try.
What more can I say? Focusing on the scale and not on health is sooooo short-sighted. I care less about what I weigh than how I feel and look…on the inside as much – if not more – than the outside. You don’t have to be svelte to be healthy…you do, however, have to MOVE.
Makster on 27 May 2009 at 9:01 am #
I really think that people should be given a crystal ball to look into their future to see what condition they could be in as they age. It would open a lot of eyes and might get people to eat better and move more.
My parents are both in their 70’s and in good health. The reason being they are both active. They go to the health center at the hospital 4 times per week. My mom uses the pool for workouts and my dad uses the gym.
Without this I think there physical condition would not be any where near as good.
It’s a shame people dont take better care of their bodies as they age.
Elissa on 27 May 2009 at 1:55 pm #
It can be pretty sad to see people suffer from ailments that are largely preventable. My in-laws are another case in point. My father-in-law had severe sarcopenia (which went unrecognized by his doctors); my mother-in-law has osteoporosis, dementia and high blood pressure. She’s the only one of our respective parents still alive (my father died of lung cancer 20 years ago)…although it’s not much of a life. She lives off handfuls of prescription drugs and doesn’t have a clue about who I am.
My mother had a cerebral hemorrhage 7 years ago. Astonishingly enough, she survived it, but was left in a vegetative state. There was nothing the hospital could do, so she was placed in a nursing home, where she passed away two months later.
The nursing home she was in was a fantastic place in the sense that the staff did everything possible to make the place cheerful and bright; the patients were well cared for (and I was there every day to make sure of it, in Mom’s case). But there was no disguising the fact that it was a halfway house for the incipient dead.
So yes, like Ebenezer Scrooge, I’ve had a hard look at just how dismal the future could be…and I don’t want any part of it. A few hours a week of vigorous exercise is a small price to pay to stay out of that compassionate Hell-on-Earth. Feeling more energetic and looking better are simply bonuses.
Makster on 28 May 2009 at 9:22 am #
I second your opinion!!! Give me exercise and keep me able to walk and function normally as I age.