Fitness is Different for Girls: Alberta Study

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Those days of high school phys. ed. may be long behind us but, for many women, the memories remain and they’re not all pleasant.  Even in our modern day, co-ed sports and fitness activities tend to be dominated by the presence of testosterone and all the gusto and competitiveness that comes along with that celebrated and derided male hormone.  I can still feel the angry stares on the back of my head as I relive in my less-confident moments the feeling of flubbing that volleyball serve or missing yet another basket (I mean, come on… I could barely hold the basketball with two hands, let alone gracefully toss it overhead, one-handed, with the tips of my fingers AND do so with enough precision to send said ball through a hoop barely larger than the projectile itself and angled away from me, a thousand feet over my head… but I digress…).

If we didn’t know it already, here is some support for the general feeling that girls are different when it comes to fitness and physical activity.  They value and need different stimuli and support to be successful in physical pursuits.  The Alberta Centre for Active Living conducted instruction and interviews with girls in grade six to determine the role that social and environmental cues have in girls’ enjoyment of physical activity.  From that paper, here are five key tips to keep in mind when dealing with your own daughters and other little women in your life on matters of physical activity:

• Promote physical activity as something that’s fun to do.

• Don’t focus on physical appearance outcomes, and let girls know that health is not defined by body size. While physical activity is an important part of health, being skinny is not. People of a variety of weights and body shapes can be healthy.

• Avoid assumptions about boys’ and girls’ abilities and about what kinds of activities are right for boys and girls. Promote a wide range of activities for both.

• Free time is important. Kids need time to just be kids and do activities of their choice.

• When possible, make physical activity a part of other activities that girls like to do.

Our daughters will have plenty of years ahead of them to worry about cholesterol, celebrity diets, and living up to expectations in general.  Give your daughter the best start possible and introduce her in a dynamic, fun and open-minded way to the world of sport and fitness.  Incorporate the advice of the Alberta Centre for Active Living and, above all, lead by example. Get out there yourself, pick up an old sport from university, join a powerwalking group in your neighbourhood, take your kids out for an evening bike ride and speak in a positive and healthy way about your fitness and your body shape.  Check out an earlier post for 5 great family activities to help you stay fit together.  Approach fitness from a place of bettering your life and your family’s life and you will build, and instill, strength from within.