Your Body Section

Its Your Body

Your Body

Lets dispel the myths .. of what we should look like and who we really are, if we are going to compare ourselves with someone lets try comparing ourselves to the actual average UK woman of today, and not the unrealistic stereotypical women that are currently represented on TV and in the media (did you know that many models can now have a BMI as low as 16 which is defined as protein-calorie malnutrition).

Your Body

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Overview - The Facts

A woman's body needs between 1600 - 2000 calories a day depending on age, height and activity levels, unfortunately though, the older we get the easier it is to put on weight because as we age we need less calories and we also tend to do less exercise to burn them off.
A healthy woman's Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 18.5 - 25
The average UK woman is now a size 16
Menstruation usually starts between the ages of 12-16 years and the menopause happens between 45-55 years.
For the average British woman the menopause starts at 51, although the peri-menopause generally begins around 45 where symptoms like mood swings and hot flushes start to rear their ugly head.
The average age we are giving birth to the first child is 29
According to the Office for national statistics Life expectancy for women in 2001 was 81
British women are currently 97th for healthy life expectancy out of 136 countries surveyed for the World Economic Forum (2013)