National Women's Health

Turn on your TV or radio or open your paper. Someone is always demanding others take care of them. Sometimes these claims are legitimate, other times not. But have you ever heard of women demanding for someone else to make them healthy?

This is one of those instances when women and girls can only do this for themselves and they are not the only ones to benefit. How? Look around you. Who is the caregiver in your family? More than likely it a woman, a wife, a mother, or a sister. All through history it has been the woman who raises the children, many times alone, or takes care of ailing parents or other family members.

Do we, as women, ever stop and think who takes care of US? How can a woman be there for her family if she dies at an early age from heart disease, stroke or diabetes? These leading causes of death among women can be successfully prevented or treated if the warning signs are caught early enough. But we have to take charge of ourselves by ourselves.

Just to get your little grey cells working, did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of American women? Often thought of as a man's disease, more women die of heart disease each year than men. Mistakenly, most people think of only elderly women dying from heart disease. But did you ever think about how young that lady was when she developed the problem? She may have been just like you, in her early 30's, overweight, a smoker, already with diabetes. How much better would her life have been if she had had regular check-ups and known how to have a healthy lifestyle? How much more enjoyment could she have had with her children and grandchildren if she had been able to physically participate in activities?

I am Mary Helen Craig, a wife, mother, grandmother, and a sister. I am also a member of TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) in Kilgore. I will be writing a series of articles throughout May to promote National Women's Health Week, May 14-20 and the W.O.M.A.N. Challenge, an 8week physical activity challenge which will run from May 14 - July 8. W.O.M.A.N. stands for Women (and girls) On the Move Across the Nation. The articles will include important information taken directly from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and weekly journals of my personal 10,000 steps per day challenge around Kilgore.

I am committing myself to the walking program. As leader of the Kilgore chapter of TOPS, I am not only setting an example for our members to follow, but determined to reach my goal weight of 150 pounds before the end of 2006. My plan is to walk different routes in downtown Kilgore 5 days a week. (I have walking tapes and CDs that will count my steps from 126 beats per minute to 134 beats per minute).

After I complete my daily steps, I will drop in to chat with a local business or two, pass on the important information about National Women's Health Week and the W.O.M.A.N. Challenge, have them sign my Kilgore Passport, and hopefully be given a nice cold glass of water! You won't have trouble spotting me. I will be wearing a bright green W.O.M.A.N. T-shirt and a red face.

When you do see me, cheer me on or fall into step beside me. For you see, no one else can take care of us. We have to do it ourselves, so that we can take care of the others that we love. Join me on a walk around Kilgore.