Need more calcium?

Let's face it, most of us are not taking in the right amount of calcium that our bodies need, especially women who face the risk of weakening bones due to a lack of needed nutrients. That's why many health care professionals recommend when you aren't following the diet that you should, that you consider taking calcium supplements as a way to a healthier you. There are a variety of different formulations out there as well as prices, so ask your health care professional which one might be best for you.

Women-Owned Firms Numbered 7.8 Million in 2007

In 2007, women owned 7.8 million businesses and accounted for 28.7 percent of all businesses nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners. These firms generated $1.2 trillion in receipts, about 3.9 percent of all business receipts nationwide. (See Table 1.)

Businesses owned equally by men and women numbered 4.6 million firms (17.0 percent of all businesses) and generated $1.3 trillion in receipts (4.2 percent of all receipts).

"As business owners, women in 2007 had a major impact on the nation's economy, employing more than 7.6 million workers," said Census Bureau Deputy Director Thomas Mesenbourg. "In addition, the businesses they owned equally with men added another 8.1 million workers. Furthermore, businesses where women were owners or half-owners numbered 12.4 million firms, representing 45.7 percent of all firms."

The percentage of women-owned businesses was fairly constant from state to state. In every state, women owned at least a fifth of the businesses and the percentage exceeded 30 percent in several states. (See map.)

In some industries, women controlled a significant share of the businesses. For example, women-owned businesses accounted for 52.0 percent of all businesses operating in the health care and social assistance sector.

Nearly half of all women-owned businesses (45.9 percent) operated in repair and maintenance; personal and laundry services; health care and social assistance; and professional, scientific and technical services.

CEOs focus on women's advancement in business

DEAUVILLE, France, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- An inaugural group of more than 20 CEOs and leaders came together in a private meeting to discuss how male and female leaders should continue to make progress on women's advancement through specific and measurable actions. In addition, a CEO plenary session highlighted the outcomes of the private meeting.

The meeting, held during the Women's Forum Global Meeting in Deauville, France, resulted in six commitments agreed upon by the CEOs.

The six CEO Champion commitments:

1)
As CEO, be visibly committed and embed women's advancement into business strategy

Build women's advancement into the strategy of the company operations, driven by the CEO and leadership team. Change our workplace culture and mindset and empower both men and women to drive women's initiatives.
2)
Require diverse candidates as a priority

Recruit, develop, and retain diverse candidates as a priority. When considering candidates for leadership positions, at least one woman will be on every candidate slate.
3)
Hold ourselves accountable for progress

Define stretch goals around increasing women in our boards, executive committees, or running major parts of our businesses. We will each measure progress and present a thoughtful game plan at Women's Forum in 2011.
4)
Build the CEO Champion network

Work together to increase the dialogue among our peers - and create peer pressure - to build our network of CEO Champions, including a "plus one" strategy for next year's Women's Forum (each CEO to bring one or more of their peers).
5)
Create a catalogue of best practices and engage in cross-company mentoring of talented women.
6)
Develop ways to foster balance between personal and professional lives for men and women in our workforces (focusing on all generations in the workforce).

Profile America for Sept. 25 - First woman Supreme Court Justice

U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for September 25

The daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25: FIRST WOMAN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

Profile America — Saturday, September 25th. Today marks the anniversary, in 1981, of the swearing in of the first woman Supreme Court justice — Sandra Day O'Connor. She served until retiring in 2006. There have been four women to join the court: O'Connor, Elena Kagan recently, Ruth Bader Gensberg, who joined in 1993 and Sonya Sotomayor, who joined last year. A total of 111 men and women have served on the Supreme Court. The workload of the court has grown. There were just over 5,000 cases on the docket in 1980, while in recent years, that number has almost doubled. At the same time, the total number of cases argued annually has dropped by more than half to 125. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

How to help build a different world.

That's what the leaders of many of our world governments were focusing on recently as reported by Time Magazine.

It will be interesting to see how far this goes beyond the typical political hype and if any real action is a result.

Though I found this one portion especially interesting:

From the perspective of developing nations, the question of talent takes on a different hue. There is a growing consensus among development economists that the key driver of China's stellar success in the past 20 years has not been government policy (however effective it may have been) or the technocratic skills of its public-sector managers (though they are certainly impressive). It is that for two generations — going back to the dark, autarkic days of Maoism — China has educated its women. China would not have been able to become the workshop of the world if its factory workers, mainly girls and women, did not have the literacy and numeracy essential to perform assembly tasks. If there is one lesson from China that African nations (and ones in South Asia too) need to learn, it is that you cannot build a modern economy if you ignore the innate talents of 50% of your population.

Seventy-seven percent of pregnant women don't exercise enough

Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill found that, at most, 23% of pregnant women engaged in as much physical activity as is recommended by government and private health groups. This means 77% did not get enough exercise.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) which is the nation’s largest organization of OBYGN's says women with uncomplicated pregnancies should get 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily.

It's also recommended that women who are expecting take prenatal vitamins and a high percentage do not get enough of the vitamins their bodies and their babies need.

Women and cigars...

While it may be more common to think of a man smoking a cigar, women in history (some say going back as far as Catherine the Great) have smoked cigars. In 2008 it was estimated by the Cigar Association that a half a million women in the world smoke cigars. It may surprise you to learn I have not, despite the years I smoked cigarettes, I've never tried a cigar. Since the whole smoking concept of a cigar is different than a cigarette, most say do not inhale cigar smoke (though I know some disagree) but that's not even a controversy when it comes to cigarettes, it's pretty much a given that you inhale. Which for me, I'd have to stop the reflex behavior of years of inhaling...

:-)

Take a bite out of the odds...

Using the internet and social networking, there is a way to not only become more informed about how to have a healthier diet, but to participate in helping the American Heart Association. This is being done through freshpromise.net. Once you visit the website you'll see how it all works, the basic jist is that you can earn points by buying specially marked Fresh Express® and Chiquita® products. By donating those points you help the American Heart Association.

Making Fresh Promise more interactive than traditional product bonus points is the ability for you to share your story to encourage others to adapt a healthier lifestyle as well as upload pictures. When you do this, you are given additional bonus points which you can donate.

By using two of the most popular social networking formats, MySpace and Facebook, there are more opportunities to get involved and to meet other people who share your goals and desire for a healthy lifestyle. The Fresh Promise site is easy to navigate, and is being promoted heavily until February 27th as part of the Go Red For Women campaign. So head on over, check out the website and join in!