Why Thirty Is No Longer The Prime Of Life

Women in their thirties who appear to "have it all" compared with previous generations are in fact exhausted and unhappy, a survey has claimed.

The demands of being a homemaker, mother and holding down a job is leaving them "physically and emotionally" wrecked.

Lack of sleep and eating "on the hoof" rather than sitting down to regular family meals add to the problems of trying to do too much.

Nearly half of female thirtysomethings - typified by Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary - regularly call in sick at work because they are under so much stress, the study found.

The Female Health Survey revealed that women find the 30s by far the toughest decade.

Nearly nine out of 10 said they frequently feel tired, with 59% saying they feel tired all the time, and only a quarter get enough sleep.

Eight out of 10 of women said they do not have enough time to eat properly, while 31% admitted that they snack all the time.

The result is that women in their thirties and forties regularly suffer from headaches, chest infections, heart palpitations or eczema.

Marina Crook, the editor of Top Sante magazine, which commissioned the survey, was unsurprised by the results.

"Tiredness and stress are the ailments of our age and combined with a poor diet they cause low immunity and ill-health," she said.

And she warns that the problems continue into later life, with working lives lasting longer than ever before.

"Our thirties and forties are so hectic, that by the time we reach our fifties, sixties and seventies - the time we should be more freed up to enjoy life - our health has already been seriously affected."

Article Coutesy : Sky News