Survey results show a campaign to get more women moving is helping create long-term improvements in physical and mental well-being, particularly during the pandemic.
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VicHealth's This Girl Can campaign has inspired 340,000 women to get active, equating to approximately one in six Victorian women aged 18 to 65.
Women who may not have been active previously are now making decisions to commit to exercise long-term, with 80 per cent of survey respondents continuing actions in September that they started in May 2021.
Survey results show 58 per cent of women who were inspired to get active were committed to continuing this change throughout the rest of the year.
Whatever journey people have been on, there is no better day than today to get started.
- Deb Lowah Clark, This Girl Can ambassador
Ballarat This Girl Can ambassador Deb Lowah Clark said she first became an advocate for the campaign four years ago and continued to experience the benefits of her commitment to walk regularly.
She said she remained an ambassador this year because it was a way to remain connected, which was a big part of health, well-being and being motivated to meet her goal of 30 minutes of walking a day.
Ms Lowah Clark said walking was accessible and possible throughout the pandemic - sometimes she would do 10 minutes stints around her backyard.
Walking was how she started her active journey four years ago.
"Whatever journey people have been on, there is no better day than today to get started," she said
"Walk out the front door and walk down the end of the street.
"Walking was my big thing when I became one of the ambassadors four years ago. Back then I walked off about 45kg."
This Girl Can celebrates everyday women giving it a go and getting active no matter what their skill level, what they look like, or how sweaty they get.
Ms Lowah Clark said she had struggled with her weight her whole life and she knew she would never look like someone on the front cover of a magazine.
She said she was also used to not seeing people like her, a proud Meriam woman of the Torres Straits, in sport and media.
"This Girl Can really blew those stereotypes out of the park," she said.
"It continues to advocate for everyday women. They asked us to stand up and be counted."
This Girl Can is crafted with insights from research findings that almost 80 per cent of women want to see more women with a range of body shapes included in physical activity advertising.
Two-thirds of women aren't motivated to get active by fitspiration videos featuring toned and taut influencers and fitness instructors.
The campaign aims to support gender equality by challenging traditional gender roles and stereotypes in sport and celebrating women in this space.
Only half of Victorian women were getting enough physical activity each week prior to the pandemic.
The other half were participating in less than 30 minutes of physical activity five times per week.
One in 10 women in Victoria did no physical activity at all in a typical week.
Research found women's exercise habits were affected negatively more than men during 2020, the first half of the pandemic.
But there were positive signs - 39 per cent of women turned to exercising at home for the first time during the pandemic, including 19 per cent who hadn't been active before.
Survey results showed 40 per cent of women who started exercising at home for the first time continued to do so in late 2020 and early 2021.
At home workout content was provided during lockdown periods.
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The 2021 campaign focus was on how exercise made women feel.
Research shows when women shift from thinking about how they look when they exercise to how they feel, it helps to moderate the fear of judgement and foster more enjoyable and sustained activity patterns.
VicHealth's Head of This Girl Can Melanie Fineberg said we must support women to be active in ways that feel good and suit them.
"Women have had to juggle so much yet again, from home schooling and parenting to work, study and other commitments," she said.
"Physical activity and movement have positive impacts on mental well-being, so it's more important than ever for all of us to support women to keep active in any way they can."
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