The push to reduce deaths from heart disease has triggered a new campaign raising awareness among women from ethnically diverse communities about the benefits of exercise.
At a beginner's swim class in western Sydney, women from the local Chinese community are trying to keeping their heads above water.
Until recently, some of the women had never swum before.
But inexperience is not enough to keep them from staying healthy, says Sunny Wei, one of the swimmers. “It's good for health and good for heart. For everything, I think,” says Wei.
Surf Life Saving New South Wales' Kaye Wood says the benefits of exercise cannot be underestimated. "So the benefits to cardiovascular health, the benefits all-around to mobility, to your general wellbeing, to the way you feel about yourself in life ... it's important for everybody to keep physical,” Wood says.
New research from the Heart Foundation shows, while most people recognise exercise is good for them, only 7 per cent know it can ward off a range of diseases and illnesses.
Among them is heart disease, a leading cause of death among women.
An Australian woman dies from heart disease every hour of every day, but just a half-hour of physical activity can reduce the risk of heart disease by 35 per cent.
The cardiovascular-health director for Heart Foundation New South Wales, Julie Anne Mitchell, sees it as a wonder drug. "We've surveyed people, and, when we ask them about physical activity, they know that it's good for them, but what they don't know is that it is a wonder drug in actually reducing the risk of a range of diseases,” she says.
As part of Heart Week, she says a new campaign is reaching out to women from culturally diverse communities. Mitchell adds: “We know there are also cultural barriers for them participating in physical activity. It may be that they can't go to swimming pools or can't exercise in public places."
Mina Singh Batra, a 91-year-old walker in Sydney, is one of many Australians who have had family members affected by heart disease.
She says: “Yes, unfortunately, two years ago, my son-in-law had to have quadruple open-heart surgery.” She says she knows the importance of keeping fit. "I go for a walk every day, between half an hour to 45 minutes,” Ms Batra adds.
Listen to this feature in Punjabi here.
