Reading time: 3 minutes
In the second part of our series on exercise and body image, we look at what influences poor body image and the age at which such dissatisfaction occurs.
Children’s opinions of their bodies form at a very young age. In fact studies have shown that pre-schoolers as young as three are unhappy with their bodies.
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Lack of confidence and poor body image in girls as young as seven is driving them to give up sport, but what can be done to solve the problem and how can we use PE to promote a positive body image?
A lack of self-confidence is one of the biggest barriers to girls participating in sport, and one of the most problematic manifestations of this is poor body image. At a time when both obesity and eating disorders among young girls are at their highest, addressing this is of utmost importance.
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Reading time: 3 minutes
Previously, we’ve looked at why so few girls take part in sport, here we consider what you can do to break down the barriers.
Encouraging girls to exercise more regularly will improve their overall wellbeing and there are some simple, practical ways that you can help.
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Girls need positive role models if they’re to be inspired to take up sport; here we interview Sarah Hunter, captain of the successful England Women’s Rugby team.
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Reading time: 2 minutes
The factors given previously – and others – combine to give girls the impression that sport is not for them. Unlike boys, for whom excelling at sport is a good thing, girls are put off physical activity because they don’t want to be seen as unfeminine.
This is compounded by the media, which often portrays successful female athletes as masculine. Another participant in the BioMed Research International study stated: “Sport is seen as a manly thing to do…they [the media] don’t see it as a girly thing.”
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Reading time: 3 minutes
In the first part of this series on Breaking Down the Barriers to Girls’ Participation in Sport we looked at how the majority of girls don’t get the weekly recommended minimum amount of exercise.
In this second instalment, we identify the barriers to participating in physical activity that girls experience. So, why aren’t more girls taking part in sports?
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Reading time: 2 minutes
Government figures show that the vast majority of young people don’t get the recommended minimum amount of 60 minutes exercise per day.
This is worse for girls than for boys: just 15% of girls achieve that goal, compared to 27% of boys. Participation falls off with age in both sexes, but again this is much faster in girls.
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When professional golf players are considered, names such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Jack Nicklaus come to mind, but what about female golfers?
The progress of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has exceeded all expectations, but does this transfer to participation in girls taking up the sport?
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With over 1.4 million women and girls currently playing football in Britain, it is the country’s most popular female team sport for participation. Since 2013 when a strategy launched by the football league trust, the FA and the Premier League the number of females between 14-25 years old regularly taking part in football has risen by over 20,000.
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Reading time: 2 minutes
With Round 1 of the Six Nations kicking off with Wales V England on 6th February, now is the perfect time to look at rugby union in schools. As of 2010, 66% of primary and secondary schools were providing rugby union sports provision.
Besides enjoyment and fitness, rugby union can develop a wide range of skills and values such as working in a team, determination, respect and sportsmanship.
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