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Girls Exercise Less as They Grow Older
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Teenage girls are less active than their male counterparts, which can lead to a variety of health issues, including obesity and poor eating habits.
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Although young girls are participating in organized sports in record numbers, the percentage who remain physically active through their teenage years is declining, laments CNN correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Seventy percent of freshman girls enroll in high school physical education class, yet by senior year only 30 percent are still taking gym, says Gupta.
Another study, of data collected by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, showed that girls with a higher body mass index reported less physical activity according to USA Today.
A sedentary lifestyle is one factor in obesity, a condition that can lead to heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other problems. Younger people, including children, are developing these lifelong problems in greater numbers than they have historically, health experts say.
Though more exercise could help teen girls avoid these problems, too much of it can cause others. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital in Boston found that too much exercise can lead to stress fractures in their bones.
Other studies suggest than teen girls are controlling their weight through unhealthy habits instead. A 2006 study by the University of Minnesota’s Project Eating Among Teens showed 14 percent of high school age girls use diet pills, a rate that doubled since 2001.
Seventy percent of freshman girls enroll in high school physical education class, yet by senior year only 30 percent are still taking gym, says Gupta.
Another study, of data collected by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, showed that girls with a higher body mass index reported less physical activity according to USA Today.
A sedentary lifestyle is one factor in obesity, a condition that can lead to heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other problems. Younger people, including children, are developing these lifelong problems in greater numbers than they have historically, health experts say.
Though more exercise could help teen girls avoid these problems, too much of it can cause others. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital in Boston found that too much exercise can lead to stress fractures in their bones.
Other studies suggest than teen girls are controlling their weight through unhealthy habits instead. A 2006 study by the University of Minnesota’s Project Eating Among Teens showed 14 percent of high school age girls use diet pills, a rate that doubled since 2001.
Headline Links: “Keeping Our Daughters Active”
Nicole LaVoi, an author of the Tucker Center report, told Gupta for Time Magazine that one culprit could be parents pushing kids too much, or a “professionalization of sports.” “You could argue that kids just don't know how to participate in unstructured play because there is so much focus on organized activities these days.”
Source: Time Magazine
A study of more than 2,000 girls ages 9–19 suggests “more than half of black girls and a third of white girls do no regular physical activity at 16 and 17,” according to USA Today. The study, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, explored why obesity develops more often in black than white women.
Source: USA Today
Related Topics: Use of diet pills more common; compulsive exercise
“These numbers are startling, and they tell us we need to do a better job of helping our daughters feel better about themselves and avoid unhealthy weight control behaviors,” said Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, an author of a University of Minnesota study on eating habits. “We have found that teenage females who diet and use unhealthy weight control behaviors are at three times the risk of being overweight.”
Source: University of Minnesota
Girls who exercise for 16 or more hours each week are twice as likely to develop a stress fracture as girls who exercise four hours or less. Revolution Health suggests that if your daughter exercises frequently, speak with her doctor to make ensure she’s getting the right nutrients, and watch for the signs of a stress fracture.
Source: Revolution Health
Reference: Children’s Fitness, Obesity Web Guides
Learn how to help children of all ages live active, healthy lifestyles, and read tips for keeping them motivated in the findingDulcinea Children’s Fitness Web Guide.
Source: findingDulcinea
Find out how obesity is dangerous to a person’s health, and learn how to treat it, in the findingDulcinea Obesity Web Guide.
Source: findingDulcinea
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