Can you remember the first issue back in February 2012, with Kate Beckinsale on the cover? I can picture it vividly. As obsessed with wellness then as I am now, I felt like I finally had a magazine that spoke directly to me. Suddenly, health was cool, rather than wholesome. It’s thanks to Women’s Health that I first heard the term ‘fitness influencer’ and became obsessed with an Australian trainer called Kayla Itsines. Kayla went on to become the most famous trainer in the world – gracing the cover of this very magazine four times – but you’d have read about her here first. It’s also because of these hallowed pages that I started to appreciate the importance of strength training – pivoting my cardio-heavy workout programme to a much more holistic approach that’s given me a stronger and healthier body.
I watched as my favourite magazine became the fastestgrowing female publishing brand of the decade, while declaring to my colleagues on the weekly fashion title I was working on that, one day, I would be the editor of Women’s Health. And here I am, at the helm of its 100th issue. It’s a ‘pinch me’ moment – and a privilege I’ll never take for granted.
In the 10 years Women’s Health has been on the newsstands, much has changed in the realm of female health. Our gynaecological health is no longer shrouded in shame. We’re owning our periods, along with their potential to impact our lives, while the peri/menopause is finally getting the airtime it deserves. But it’s not all good news. The UK has the largest gender health gap in the G20 (the world’s most developed economies). Gynaecological waiting lists are longer than any other area of medicin
