Physical Activity and Coronary Heart Disease in Women

Abstract

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of mortality among women in the United States.¹ Physical inactivity is among the risk factors for this disease. A 1990 meta-analysis concluded that physically active individuals had about half the CHD rates of those who were sedentary.² However, less than one fifth of the studies in the meta-analysis included women. Since then, additional studies have been conducted in women, and the available evidence clearly indicates that active women experience lower CHD rates than inactive women.^3-26