Blogs

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. Department of Health and Human Services share how they find their health, why women should prioritize their health, and how their work is helping women lead healthy lives.

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. 

As a parent, the scariest thing you can imagine is your child getting hurt. Yet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that among women and men who have experienced intimate partner violence, 26% of women and 15% of men first experienced violence by a partner before they turned 18.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is leading an initiative aimed at reducing new HIV infections by 75% in the next 5 years and 90% in the next 10 years. According to HHS Secretary Alex Azar, that means preventing more than 250,000 new infections over the proposed 10-year timespan.

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 know the change in seasons can bring on a type of depression called seasonal affective disorder (SAD)? According to the National Institute of Mental Health, SAD is diagnosed four times more often in women than men. To learn more about SAD and how women can manage it, we talked to Dr. Yael Nillni. She’s a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the Boston University School of Medicine and the National Center for PTSD, Women’s Health Sciences Division. She talks about when to see a doctor, treatment options, and more.

In 2011, my life was uprooted in an instant. I remember sitting on the floor of my Brooklyn, New York, apartment, heart pounding, tears flowing, palms sweating, anxiously anticipating a phone call where I hoped to hear two words: "She's OK."

What's a migraine headache like? Migraine headaches affect more women than men, and each woman who lives with this medical condition likely has a different answer to that question. Though they are not usually a threat to your overall health, migraine attacks can greatly affect your day-to-day life.

ADM Brett P. Giroir, M.D., HHS Assistant Secretary for Health, welcomes Dr. Dorothy Fink as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health and Director of the Office on Women’s Health. Dr. Fink brings extensive experience treating women’s health issues to the Office on Women’s Health. She is board certified in endocrinology, internal medicine, and pediatrics and is recognized as a physician leader on diabetes, nutrition, and bone health. During her career, she has cared for thousands of patients, with a specialized practice focusing on women from adolescence through menopause and beyond. Most recently, Dr. Fink has practiced at the Hospital for Special Surgery and New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University, where she served on the faculty and worked with women to attain optimal health, treated metabolic bone conditions, and improved patients’ diabetes care prior to surgery. Please join ADM Giroir and the Office on Women’s Health in welcoming Dr. Dorothy Fink. Read her full bio here.