Diana Ross health: ‘Time to get my body moving’ – star on prioritising her health aged 78

Beyonce sings 'Happy Birthday' to Diana Ross at her party

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Having been raised by a poor family in Detroit, USA, Ross felt it was her duty to become an entertainer, and keep everyone in the family happy. From there she had huge success as lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes, who became one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time before going solo in 1970. Along with her tenacity to succeed and remarkable singing and acting abilities, Ross has admitted in the past that she has always tried to take care of her health and keep her life in order, with the pressures of fame and fortune sometimes making this hard to do.

Back in 2015 the star said: “I try to take care of my health and keep my life in order. In the last few years I’ve really had to decide what’s important to me, and it seems to me that my family and my health are top on the list.

“And those have nothing to do with show business. I have three girls, and I say the same thing to them.

“I’m not involved in their careers because I’ve learned that it’s important for them to stand on their own two feet. They’ll feel better and prouder of themselves if they do. Being a parent is very important to me. I even thought of adopting a child as a single mother.”

Getting thousands of compliments about her “age-defying” appearance, Ross has constantly been asked what her secrets are. In one response she said: “I never like to think of myself as beautiful.

“I like to think of myself as healthy; beauty comes from being healthy. [Beauty] means being a good person, having integrity and loyalty and being true to your work.

“There’s power in that! Walking around being self-indulgent about prettiness – that’s not important.”

However, Ross has not always had an easy ride with fame. At the height of her career with The Supremes, the star questioned whether she had a “form of anorexia” as the stress of fame made it difficult for her to eat anything.

She is reported to have said: “Sometimes the stress got so bad, I couldn’t eat. I just couldn’t swallow anything.

“I’d put food in my mouth, but my jaws would clamp together and I couldn’t chew. It got so bad that I couldn’t even tolerate the smell of food. It was too pungent for me.

“Perhaps it was a form of anorexia. I was becoming skin and bones. Although The Supremes were at the top, I felt as if I were sitting at the bottom of a deep, dark pit.”

Her illness and troubled relationship with food soon started to affect her ability to perform and on one infamous occasion in 1967, the band cancelled a show in Boston and Ross was checked into hospital with exhaustion.

Concerns for the star’s health were raised again more recently, with a source reportedly stating that Ross “may feel young – but the body tells a different story”. However, with no official comment or statement from Ross, there is no reason to believe that the star is in anything but in tip-top health for her age.

In fact, in one tweet from July 2021, when the world emerged from the COVID-19 lockdown, Ross revealed that she was getting active and getting her body moving.

The tweet read: “Today I’ve been thinking about my health and well-being. We are all getting back to being busy. I need to slim down, time to get my body moving.”

With it clear that Ross prioritises her health and wellbeing in her older age, others of an older age would be wise to follow suit, as the NHS states that exercising can reduce the risk of major illnesses such as:

• Coronary heart disease
• Stroke
• Type 2 diabetes
• Cancer.

In fact, on the opposite end of the spectrum, the Department of Health and Social Care has described inactivity as a “silent killer”, with long periods of lying or sitting down being classed as bad for your health.

Common examples of sedentary behaviour include watching TV, using a computer, using the car for short journeys and sitting down to read, talk or listen to music. This type of behaviour is thought to increase an individual’s risk of developing many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, as well as weight gain and obesity.

It is for this reason that all adults and children are advised to stay active and exercise. For older adults especially, they should do some type of physical activity every day.

The NHS recommends individuals aim to do at least two activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility on at least two days a week. In addition to this, individuals should do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity if you are already active.

Examples of vigorous activities include:

• Running
• Aerobics
• Swimming
• Riding a bike fast or on hills
• Singles tennis
• Football
• Hiking uphill
• Dance for fitness
• Martial arts.

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