Older women with fewer family and work responsibilities are proving to be taking up chances of getting and staying fit, a new study shows, while younger women juggling jobs and children often miss out.
The study was completed by Professor Wendy Brown at the School of Human Movement Studies at the University of Queensland. She analyzed the data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, which 40,000 women participated in over three years.
Participants were grouped into three age cohorts: young (18 to 23), middle-aged (45 to 50) and older women (70 to 75).
About a third of the young and middle-aged women were physically active both times they were surveyed, while about a quarter of the older women were.
Life Stages Change Exercise Levels
Dr Brown found that exercise levels changed as the women entered new life stages – getting married, having a baby, having school aged children and a job, retiring, being divorced or widowed.
Not surprisingly, for the women with new families, or juggling work outside the home with family life, the opportunities for structured exercise such as going for a run or attending a gym class, diminished through lack of free time.
Some members of the oldest cohort (70-75) also cut back on physical activity due to health problems or a sense that they were ‘too old’.
For the young and middle-aged, stressful events such as harassment at work or a relationship break-up, especially an unpleasant one, also led to women not exercising as much as before.
However, some young women who experienced harassment at work tended to increase their physical activity. Dr Brown suggested they used exercise as a way of coping with the stress.
Middle-aged Women have Time to Get Fit
For the middle-aged, whose lives seemed more settled after retirement or their families having left home, and who were comfortable about their status as divorced or widowed, more free time led to more physical activity.
"Being widowed was associated with increasing physical activity in the middle-aged women," Dr Brown said.
"This may reflect the fact that women use physical activity to cope with this event — or perhaps that they have more time to be active.”
She urged older women with health problems such as diabetes or heart problems to get physically active. “if you are an older woman with heart disease or diabetes, it is vitally important to stay active, as physical activity can help to manage these conditions."
The study on Australian women's physical activity is published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
How Much Exercise is Enough?
At least 30 minutes of exercise a day for a minimum of three days a week, and preferably every day, is the basic advice to remain healthy.
Australian fitness expert Dr Tim Henwood suggested this should alternate between aerobic and resistance exercise.
“Ideally, individuals should do something that raises their heart rate three days per week punctuated with a minimum of two days per week challenging their muscles,” he said.
Dr Henwood would prefer everyone to attend regular gym or fitness classes. However, for busy mothers it’s just not that easy.
“Situations like marriage and children change the amount of expendable time during the day," commented Dr Amy Eyler, professor of Community Health at St Louis University, Missouri.
"It may vary culturally, but having children almost always decreases the feeling of self-priority for women."
Find Ways to Fit Exercise in Your Day
Compared to the Australian study, in which less than 30 percent of women were active, women's physical activity rates were higher in the United States, Dr Eyler said.
"Overall 46.7 percent of women reported regular levels of activity to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System," she said.
"Figuring out ways to maintain regular physical activity throughout the life cycle is important. Even a walk around the block with a good friend can do wonders for both mental and physical health."
Taking the dog for a walk, walking all or part of the way to the shops, the local library, the health centre, having a child minder one day a week free up time to play tennis or go swimming, are all suggestions to fit a bit more physical activity and ‘me time’ in a busy mother’s life.
The study was completed by Professor Wendy Brown at the School of Human Movement Studies at the University of Queensland. She analyzed the data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, which 40,000 women participated in over three years.
Participants were grouped into three age cohorts: young (18 to 23), middle-aged (45 to 50) and older women (70 to 75).
About a third of the young and middle-aged women were physically active both times they were surveyed, while about a quarter of the older women were.
Life Stages Change Exercise Levels
Dr Brown found that exercise levels changed as the women entered new life stages – getting married, having a baby, having school aged children and a job, retiring, being divorced or widowed.
Not surprisingly, for the women with new families, or juggling work outside the home with family life, the opportunities for structured exercise such as going for a run or attending a gym class, diminished through lack of free time.
Some members of the oldest cohort (70-75) also cut back on physical activity due to health problems or a sense that they were ‘too old’.
For the young and middle-aged, stressful events such as harassment at work or a relationship break-up, especially an unpleasant one, also led to women not exercising as much as before.
However, some young women who experienced harassment at work tended to increase their physical activity. Dr Brown suggested they used exercise as a way of coping with the stress.
Middle-aged Women have Time to Get Fit
For the middle-aged, whose lives seemed more settled after retirement or their families having left home, and who were comfortable about their status as divorced or widowed, more free time led to more physical activity.
"Being widowed was associated with increasing physical activity in the middle-aged women," Dr Brown said.
"This may reflect the fact that women use physical activity to cope with this event — or perhaps that they have more time to be active.”
She urged older women with health problems such as diabetes or heart problems to get physically active. “if you are an older woman with heart disease or diabetes, it is vitally important to stay active, as physical activity can help to manage these conditions."
The study on Australian women's physical activity is published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
How Much Exercise is Enough?
At least 30 minutes of exercise a day for a minimum of three days a week, and preferably every day, is the basic advice to remain healthy.
Australian fitness expert Dr Tim Henwood suggested this should alternate between aerobic and resistance exercise.
“Ideally, individuals should do something that raises their heart rate three days per week punctuated with a minimum of two days per week challenging their muscles,” he said.
Dr Henwood would prefer everyone to attend regular gym or fitness classes. However, for busy mothers it’s just not that easy.
“Situations like marriage and children change the amount of expendable time during the day," commented Dr Amy Eyler, professor of Community Health at St Louis University, Missouri.
"It may vary culturally, but having children almost always decreases the feeling of self-priority for women."
Find Ways to Fit Exercise in Your Day
Compared to the Australian study, in which less than 30 percent of women were active, women's physical activity rates were higher in the United States, Dr Eyler said.
"Overall 46.7 percent of women reported regular levels of activity to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System," she said.
"Figuring out ways to maintain regular physical activity throughout the life cycle is important. Even a walk around the block with a good friend can do wonders for both mental and physical health."
Taking the dog for a walk, walking all or part of the way to the shops, the local library, the health centre, having a child minder one day a week free up time to play tennis or go swimming, are all suggestions to fit a bit more physical activity and ‘me time’ in a busy mother’s life.
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