''Women's Health'' (''WH''), published by
Hearst, is a lifestyle magazine centered on the
health
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
,
sex
Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...
,
nutrition
Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...
, and
fitness of women. It is published 10 times per year in the United States and has a circulation of 1.5 million readers. The magazine has 13 international editions, circulates in over 25 countries, and reaches over 8 million readers globally. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was initially founded by
Rodale, Inc.
Rodale, Inc. (), was an American publisher of health and wellness magazines, books, and digital properties headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, with a satellite office in New York City. The company was founded in 1930. In 2017, it was acquired ...
in
Emmaus, Pennsylvania
Emmaus ( ) is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 11,652. Emmaus is located in the Lehigh Valley, the third-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania and 68th-largest metrop ...
.
The magazine features multiple sections, such as fitness, sex and love, food, weight loss, health, beauty, and style.
Past ''Women’s Health'' cover models include
Elisha Cuthbert
Elisha Ann Cuthbert (; born November 30, 1982) is a Canadian actress. As a child actress, she made her first televised appearance as an extra on ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' and co-hosted '' Popular Mechanics for Kids''. She made her feature- ...
,
Ashley Greene
Ashley Greene Khoury (born February 21, 1987) is an American actress. She is known for playing Alice Cullen in the film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's ''Twilight'' novels.
Early life
Greene was born on February 21, 1987, in Jacksonville ...
,
Anna Kournikova
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova Iglesias (née Kournikova; ; ; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian model and television personality, and former professional tennis player. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars ...
,
Michelle Monaghan
Michelle Lynn Monaghan ( , born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She has starred in the films ''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'' (2005), ''Gone Baby Gone'' (2007), ''Made of Honor'' (2008), ''Eagle Eye'' (2008), ''Trucker (film), Trucker'' (2008), '' ...
,
Zoe Saldana and
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Irene Banks (; February 10, 1974) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for playing chaperone Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and an ICCA commentator in the ''Pitch Perfect'' ...
.
History
Rodale created ''Women's Health'' in 2005 as a sister publication of ''
Men's Health
''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst Communications, Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries; it is the bestselling men's magazine on American newsstands.
Started as a men's health magazin ...
'' magazine. Bill Stump, a former ''Men’s Health'' editor, who was at the time the head of Rodale Inc.’s New Product Development department, led the launch. The magazine's founding editor-in-chief was Kristina Johnson, previously the original
executive editor
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dir ...
of ''
Teen People
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the la ...
''. In 2008,
David Zinczenko
David Zinczenko (born December 13, 1969) is an American publisher, author, and businessman. Previously, he was the executive vice president and general manager of ''Men's Health'', ''Women's Health'', ''Prevention'' and Rodale Books, the editorial ...
, editor-in-chief of ''Men's Health'' magazine, was named editorial director of Women's Health. In March 2009, Jack Essig, SVP/Publisher of ''Men's Health'', was named SVP/Publisher of ''Women's Health''.
''Women's Health'' is published in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, and Turkey.
The German edition of the magazine was launched in April 2011. A South African version was launched alongside its own ''Men's Health'' magazine, for which
Media24
Media24 is a South Africa, South African mass media company with interests in digital media and services, newspapers, magazines, ecommerce, publishing, television, logistics, and distribution.
Established in 2000, and owned by Naspers, the com ...
issued a license for publication with distribution by
Magzter
Magzter is a cross-platform, self-service, global digital newsstand with thousands of magazines and newspapers from 5,000+ publishers. Girish Ramdas and Vijayakumar Radhakrishnan founded Magzter in 2011. The company is headquartered in New York ...
.
Hearst acquired Rodale in 2018.
''
Bauer Media
Heinrich Bauer Publishing (), trade name, trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, ...
'' Australia and New Zealand published ''Women's Health''
's Australian edition. In July 2020, the
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
investment firm Mercury Capital acquired Bauer Media's operations in Australia and New Zealand. This had the effect of pausing the magazine's production in the region due to "declining advertising revenue and travel restrictions caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
."
The Polish edition launched in 2013 and ceased publication in 2023.
DVDs and books
''Women's Health'' has also produced
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
s marketed for
weight loss
Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat (adipose tissue), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other conn ...
,
toning, and
physical conditioning. The DVDs include ''Look Better Naked, Ultimate Abs Workout'', ''The Tone-up Workout'', ''The Wedding Workout'', and ''Train for Your Body Type''.
The DVDs also have accompanying health and fitness books. Titles include: ''The Women's Health Diet'', ''The Big Book of Exercises'', ''The Big Book of Abs'', ''Look Better Naked'', and ''Six Weeks to Skinny Jeans''.
Awards and recognition
In 2012, ''Women's Health'' was ranked #4 on ''
Adweek Media'' "Hot List" and #2 on ''
Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...
'' annual "A-List" for their performance in advertising and circulation.
In March 2008, ''Women’s Health'' finished #1 on ''Adweek''
's "10 under 50" Hot List. The magazine was named #2 on ''Advertising Age'' 2008 A List. In 2009, the magazine was named "Magazine of the Year" by ''Advertising Age''. In 2011, ''Women's Health'' won a
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
for "General Excellence". The brand was named one of ''
Ad Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...
s "Magazines of the Year" in both 2017 and 2018, and was nominated for a National Magazine Award for "magazine section" in 2016 and for "personal service" in 2017.
Editors-in-chief
The founding editor-in-chief, Kristina Johnson, guided ''Women's Health'' from its inception in 2003 until her departure in 2008. In January 2009, Michele Promaulayko took over the editorial responsibility. She was succeeded in 2014 by Amy Keller Laird, the magazine's Executive Editor. On January 9, 2018, Hearst announced that Liz Plosser would take over.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Women's Health
Fitness magazines published in the United States
Health magazines published in the United States
Lifestyle magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 2005
Magazines published in New York City
Mercury Capital
Multilingual magazines
Rodale, Inc.
Women's magazines published in the United States