Being Cool as a Social Imperative: Young Women's Resistance to Health Promotion Messages about Physical Exercise

Its concern to promote healthy lifestyles was expressed by the previous Conservative Government in The Health of the Nation White Paper, published in 1992. It identified the major causes of premature mortality and avoidable morbidity , and set public health targets for the year 2000 to be achieved through educating individuals about health­ threatening behaviours, such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and encouraging health-promoting activities such as exercise and improved diet. A qualitative study of young women in two West Midlands towns explored the prospects of certain relevant targets being achieved for this group within the population, and provided the basis for a feminist critique of recent Government health promotion initiatives.