Women’s health is not achieved through expensive gym memberships or taking expensive supplements. It’s not about following genetically blessed ‘influencers’ or spending thousands on ice baths and saunas.
Rather, the secret to women’s health could be about something far more accessible. Making connections, building friendships and even watching women’s sport.
That’s according to the results of our 2024 Women’s Health survey, polling more than 1,000 women in Australia in August, on what they perceive is supporting and hindering their mental and physical health.
We released the results in the opening session of the Women’s Health and Wellbeing Summit in Sydney this morning, shortly before hearing from a lineup of guests including Tanya Hosch, The Hon Ged Kearney MP, Grace Tame, Jess Hill, Dr Talat Uppal and Dr Olivia Ong.
More than three-quarters (76 per cent) of women polled said that friends contribute positively to their health, more than any other option presented in the survey.
That’s compared to 40 per cent who listed gyms and exercise classes as contributing.
Meanwhile, 54 per cent of women said watching women’s sport “inspires positivity in them”, while more than a third said watching such sport inspires them to be more physically active.
But the results also indicated issues with time and women for energy — which may well get in the way of making connections, keeping up with friends, watching sports and having time for physical exercise.
Forty four per cent of women believe their physical health is affected by a general lack of time, while more than a third (36 per cent) said paid employment is affecting their health. Two in five women said paid work prevents them from getting as much physical exercise as they like.
On mental health, 44 per cent of women said they believe their mental health is impacted by caring responsibilities.
More than half of women (53 per cent) said that competing demands of paid and unpaid work is impacting their mental health.
But it’s not just time restraints and limited energy that’s impacting women’s physical and mental health, it’s also a wide range of ‘mental loads’ that women experience, including domestic and family violence, sexual harassment, racism, ageism, chronic pain and more.
Meanwhile, more than 43 per cent of women believe climate change is impacting their mental health, something that we described as “The Climate Load” in a major report on women and climate change last year.
Financial stress is also an issue, and many women carry it on top of everything else.
More than half say they worry about their personal situation regarding housing security now or in the future – with 25 per cent of all women surveyed saying they worry about this “all the time” or “often”.
With all these loads being carried by women, is it any surprise that women are having difficulties with sleep? More than half of women (57 per cent) don’t believe they are getting enough sleep.
And with so many women limited by time and energy, what would women do with an extra hour a day?
Putting this question to women, we received mixed responses. Surprisingly, spending that extra hour sleeping only came up as the fourth on the list. Rather, the two options women selected were ‘exercising’ followed by reading and taking the time to pursue a hobby.
We’ll be sharing more from the results of the story on Women’s Agenda soon. Subscribe to our weekly women’s health update, Women’s Health News to see the full update as it’s published.