India Today brings Women's Health magazine to India

The inaugural issue of the monthly title for women will hit the newsstands this April.

The India Today Group is all set to launch Women's Health magazine in India. It has entered into a licensing agreement with US-based Rodale Inc. The inaugural issue of the India edition will hit the newsstands in April.

The magazine focuses on women's health, nutrition, fitness, sex and lifestyle. It has 12 international editions across the United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Latin America, China, Germany, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey, reaching more than 8 million readers globally.

It is published 10 times a year in the United States and has a circulation of 1.5 million readers there. Women's Health was introduced in the US by Rodale Inc. in 2005 as the sister publication of Men's Health magazine.

The new entrant does not have a direct competition in India except its sister publication Prevention, which was introduced by the India Today Group in 2007. However, there are many other health and fitness magazines in the country including Complete Wellbeing, Life Positive and Health & Nutrition, among others. Targeted at Indian women aged 35 years or more, Prevention is also a product of Rodale Inc. and is a monthly magazine.

Women's Health addresses the new generation of contemporary, confident and ambitious women in their 20s and 30s, who seek the knowledge and power to help improve not only their own lives but also the lives of those around them.

The content mix of the magazine is broadly divided into two parts -- 'Healthier and Fitter life' that includes health, fitness, nutrition and weight loss, and 'Upgrading your Life', which includes beauty, style, sex, relationships and life skills. The cover stories of the magazine will talk about Bollywood celeb's fitness and diet regimes.

The magazine has roped in Usha Sriram, endocrinologist; Zarine Watson, fitness expert, personal celebrity trainer and owner; Nishi Grover, dietician and fitness consultant; Shonali Sabharwal, practicing counsellor, chef and instructor in macrobiotics; Varkha Chulani, a clinical psychologist; Rod Anker, celebrity hair stylist; Dr Varun Katiyal, consultant dermatologist and cosmetologist; Anu Kowshik, celebrity make-up artist; Priyanka Misra, fashion director, Harper's Bazaar; Dhirendra Kumar, CEO, Value Research; Samit Basu, a writer of books, films and comics; Amrita Tripathi, news editor and health editor at CNN-IBN; and Jamal Sheikh, editor of Men's Health, India as the columnists for Women's Health magazine.

To promote the magazine, the India Today Group will launch a slew of marketing and on-ground activations, reader outreach initiatives and other promotional strategies.