More Needs To Be Done To Encourage Fitness In Young Girls

(CARLSBAD, CA) - While great strides have been made in the advancement of women’s sports, we’re still fighting an uphill battle when it comes to the basic fitness level of girls and young women today. Unfortunately, when you study recent statistics, says Jazzercise founder Judi Sheppard Missett, what begins in childhood perpetuates in adulthood.

The amount of leisure-time physical activity girls get drops by more than 80 percent between elementary school and late adolescence, according to a study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh. Adolescent girls also place less value on participating in physical activity than their male peers, and only 25 percent of them participate in daily physical education at school.

It’s not surprising, then, to learn that women are at a disproportionate risk for physical inactivity, as compared to men, and only 20 percent of women engage in regular vigorous activity. Trends that begin in childhood bear negative fruit in adulthood.

Yet, fit children are happier children. A survey of more than 7,600 U.S. children revealed a ”clear link between a student’s self image and a healthy lifestyle,“ states Jodi Prohofsky, vice president at CIGNA Behavioral Health, which conducted the Be Healthy… Be Fit survey.

Active children have better self-esteem, are less prone to eating disorders and poor body image, have more confidence and are better at developing leadership skills. So why aren’t we doing more to encourage girls and young women to stay active?

Certainly the rise in women’s sports has been a positive influence, but not all girls are cut out for competition. More needs to be done to introduce them to several fitness options. According to researchers at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, ”If girls are to have a chance to become active for a lifetime, more effort is needed to teach about and provide experience with a wide array of physical activity possibilities.“

Parents are in a wonderful position to help their daughters discover the joys and rewards of exercise! Here’s what you can do:

Get active with your girls! Go for walks and bike rides. Shoot some hoops. Take them to a dance exercise class. But a yoga video or DVD and do it together at home. Be creative and encourage your daughters to try it all.
Introduce them to a variety of activities, including non-traditional options such as rock climbing, martial arts or African tribal dancing. Mix competitive and non-competitive endeavors and see which ones motivate your child most.
Be a role model. If you aren’t active yourself, don’t expect your child to be active. A fit lifestyle is one of the greatest gifts you can give your children – and yourself!
Lobby your schools and school districts for more physical education classes. Encourage school administrators to be active partners in educating children about the lifelong benefits of regular physical activity.
Turn off the television and computer, or at least ration the time spent in front of the screen.
Help your child set a fitness goal. Just be sure that it is positive, reasonable and activity focused. For example, they can commit to walking for 30 minutes a day for three weeks. When they’ve reached their goal reward them, and set a new one.

There’s no way around it, encouraging girls to be physically active is vital to their health and well being. Even if your own knowledge of sports is limited, that shouldn’t stop you from getting actively involved. Grab a soccer ball or playground ball and find an open space indoors or outdoors, free of fragile, breakable objects. Start by standing fairly close and gently kick the ball to each other. Experiment by kicking the ball with different parts of your feet to see how it affects your aim and how the ball moves. As you get more confident, stand farther and farther apart, seeing how well you can aim. If you have poor aim, don’t worry – just laugh it off and use the opportunity to run after the ball and get some exercise in the process!

Jazzercise, created by Judi Sheppard Missett, is the world's leading dance-fitness program with more than 6,800 instructors teaching 30,000 classes weekly in the U.S. and around the globe. Since 1969, millions of people of all ages and fitness levels have reaped the benefits of this comprehensive program, designed to enhance cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility. For more information on Jazzercise go to jazzercise.com or call (800)FIT-IS-IT or (760)476-1750.