Fitness and Nutrition

Just five months ago, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the game as we know it for youth access to sports in schools and in communities. As the nation celebrates National Youth Sports Week this week, we applaud the grantees of the Youth Engagement in Sports (YES)  Initiative, who responded with resiliency and creativity to continue supporting sports and activity for young people.   

Cross-posted from health.gov

An increasing number of pregnant women in the United States have chronic health conditions — such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease — that may put them at higher risk of pregnancy complications. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working across its agencies to decrease these risks and improve the health of women across the country during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Taking steps for better health is not always easy. Professional athletes sometimes need a little extra motivation! As a National Women’s Health Week ambassador, tennis champion Sloane Stephens shares how she builds healthy behaviors into her life. In this blog post, Sloane talks about getting motivated on tough days, making healthy food choices, and staying fit off the tennis court.

Your health is a lifelong journey and it is unique to you. We all have our own reasons for wanting to be healthy and ways of going about it. Taking small steps for your health can make a big difference over time! This National Women’s Health Week, we are encouraging women to reflect on their health and share how they make healthy habits part of their everyday lives. Below, a few women leaders here at the U.S.

The 20th annual National Women’s Health Week is here! I am thrilled to be part of the celebration this year as the new director of the Office on Women’s Health. As a practicing physician, I have been focused on women and girls’ health issues my entire career and am excited to bring my knowledge to this role and continue to help women and girls achieve the best possible health. 

Join the Office on Women's Health in helping women and girls reach and maintain a healthy weight. Enter our Shape of Health: An Obesity Prevention Game challenge by creating a video game focused on obesity prevention or weight control for women or girls.

Did you make a New Year’s resolution in 2018? If so, how’d it go? Did you meet your goal, or do you have more work to do? Reflecting on your progress may bring on a range of emotions. Whether you’re feeling proud or discouraged, that’s OK. Sometimes we accomplish our goals the first time, and sometimes it takes longer than we expect. The key is to stick with it! Just ask my colleagues. Last year around this time, I asked some of them to share their plans for improving their health and well-being in 2018.

The holidays often bring delicious meals and treats, and it can be tough to eat healthy with so much good food around. Rather than skipping or cutting out your favorite dishes, why not try making a few small changes to your recipes to cook up healthier versions? We talked to Anjali Shah, a food blogger who runs The Picky Eater. She wants to make healthy eating easy and fun. See her ideas and simple tricks for healthier cooking this holiday season.

Ed. note: For International Day of the Girl Child on October 11, 2018, OWH is cross-posting this piece from the Girls on the Run Blog. The original post date was November 7, 2016. Read the original post.

I Can Do It! (ICDI) is a customizable and inclusive health promotion model aimed at transforming the lives of individuals with a disability. The Office on Women’s Health and the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition have partnered to ensure that women and girls with a disability have opportunities to be physically active and practice healthy eating behaviors through ICDI.