Women’s Lives Matter—The Critical Need for Women to Prioritize Optimal Physical Activity to Reduce COVID-19 Illness Risk and Severity

Physical activity (PA) is beneficial for the health and wellness of individuals and societies. During an infectious disease pandemic, such as the one caused by COVID-19, social distancing, quarantines, and lockdowns are used to reduce community spread of the disease. Unfortunately, such nonpharmacol...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-09, Vol.18 (19), p.10271
Main Authors: Garcia-Pelagio, Karla P., Hew-Butler, Tamara, Fahlman, Mariane M., Roche, Joseph A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Disease control
Disease transmission
Exercise
Health care
Health problems
Illnesses
Infectious diseases
Mental depression
Morbidity
Physical activity
Psychological stress
Public health
Review
Vaccination
Womens health
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Physical activity (PA) is beneficial for the health and wellness of individuals and societies. During an infectious disease pandemic, such as the one caused by COVID-19, social distancing, quarantines, and lockdowns are used to reduce community spread of the disease. Unfortunately, such nonpharmacological interventions or physical risk mitigation measures also make it challenging to engage in PA. Reduced PA could then trigger physiological changes that affect both mental and physical health. In this regard, women are more likely to experience physical and psychological distress. PA is a safe and effective nonpharmacological modality that can help prevent and manage several mental and physical health problems when performed correctly. PA might even confer benefits that are directly related to decreasing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in women. In this review, we summarize why optimal PA must be a priority for women during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then discuss chronic COVID-19 illness and its impact on women, which further underscores the need for worldwide preventive health strategies that include PA. Finally, we discuss the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 for women, as part of prioritizing preventive healthcare and an active lifestyle.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph181910271