Take Care of Yourself Now!

The National Women’s Law Center has just issued a “report card” on the state of women’s health in this country – and it looks like we’re failing girls.

The Center reviewed the goals of the recent “Healthy People” initiative and found that 23 of the 26 goals outlined in the government’s plan so far remained unmet.  Now, this is a decade long effort but still, it doesn’t look good.  When referring specifically to women, the report found that more women are engaging in binge drinking and less women are being screened for cervical cancer than in 2007. Indeed, the percentage of women who reported consuming five or more drinks at a time in the past month jumped more than 3% since 2007, to 10.6%, while the percentage of women who received annual pap smears dropped nearly 10% to 78% over the same time period.

And there’s more!  According to the Center, more women reported obesity, hypertension and diabetes than they did in 2007.  More tested positive for chlamydia.  And here’s no surprise, out of all the states in the union guess which ones came in dead last?  Yep, Louisiana and Mississippi came in 50th and 51st, respectively.  Big shock, huh?

Still, in every report, there has to be some good news, right?  Well, I found it.  One indicator – cholesterol

screening — received a higher grade than in the previous report.  Also, three goals of the Healthy People 2010 initiative were met, including the percentage of women receiving regular mammograms, visiting the dentist and screening for colorectal cancer. Also worth noting is that the rate of smoking among women declined in 42 states, making that one of the most improved health status indicators.

Still, it’s clear to me that you girls have got to get your act together, especially you young ones.  Sure, you may not feel bad right now and you probably cannot even imagine what it will be like to be 60 years old but unless you take care of yourself now, you’re gonna pay for it later.  I’m 61 and as I said in a previous post, I probably drank too much in my younger days.  And, now I am struggling with gout.

It ain’t fun getting old, my dears….Don’t make things worse by not taking care of yourself now.