Prepare for rude health at all ages …like Janet

NEVER backward in coming forward, Janet Street Porter, left, is fronting the We100 campaign, which aims to encourage everyone to live ‘100 healthy, happy years’.

It’s a great idea, and the broadcasting legend, who’s 70, was seen on television on This Morning trying out the circus-style gym class aerial yoga – which involves swinging from silk hammocks suspended from the ceiling.

Four-times-married Janet, currently a panellist on ITV’s Loose Women, also revealed that she’d consider getting hitched again. And, with characteristic frankness, she said: ‘People think that after 60, your bits drop off and that you stop having sex, but it’s simply not true.’

Well, by being as fit as she is and trying new things, she’s going the right way about it all. Exercise maintains great muscle structure, brain function, internal organ function and (vitally) strong hormone balance in the body.

If you want to stay active in the workplace, and in your private life, then lift weights, work your heart hard, reduce alcohol, sleep well, don’t get stressed, laugh regularly – and be with someone you love. MILLENNIALS (the generation born after 1982) are increasingly hitting the gym instead of the club on a Friday night, according to a newspaper report earlier this month. Some spin clubs are even trying to emulate the nightclub by serving alcohol post-workout. Most adults will probably sigh at yet more gimmicks by fitness chains that seem intent on gearing all their offerings to twentysomethings, when in fact, more than half of users of some gyms are over 50. But it is important to find ways to engage youngsters. If, in a few years’ time, my daughter goes to an exercise class and has a couple of drinks afterwards, I think that would be better than her hitting bars and nightclubs into the wee small hours. A NEW study has found that exercise during teenage years has a positive and profound effect on bone density in later years. This adds to what we already know about the problems of teenagers, especially girls – who avoid calcium-rich foods like dairy – being more prone to the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis in later life. It’s up to adults to make sure they’re doing themselves good. We need to lead by example. If they see you taking care of your body, they’re more likely to do it too.