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Studies show girls are less active than boys
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As reported at Science Daily, two studies presented at the United Kingdom Society for Behavioural Medicine today revealed that females of all ages are less physically active than males. The studies focus on school-aged children and adults over 70. Why the difference? The studies show that females prefer to talk to friends than engage in physical activity. For some reason, this isn't terribly surprisingly news.
The first study occurred in elementary schools in Liverpool, England. It was found that girls participate in 6% less vigorous play activity than boys. A relation between large group activities and moderately vigorous activities was also found. Dr. Nicky Ridgers, a research fellow on the A-CLASS Project, says "Our study shows that girls and boys play differently. Girls tend to spend time in smaller groups and engage in verbal games, conversation and socialising. Most boys play in larger groups, which lend themselves more to physically active games, such as football."
In the second study that also took place in the UK, called Project OPAL (Older People and Active Living), activity levels of individuals in their 70s was observed. Ken Fox, who is part of OPAL, says, "In this study we are observing very low levels of activity among most people over 70. More than 70 per cent of the people involved in the research take fewer than 5,000 steps a day, for example. Women are more likely to be less active than men." The difference here is that men are more likely to take trips out of the house, giving them more physical activity, whereas the women will stay home and take care of household tasks. These findings also show that even during later stages of life, traditional gender roles still exist. The goal of OPAL is to help identify ways to promote healthy living and increase awareness of physical fitness for those over 70.
These studies, while providing interesting information, doesn't offer up any real surprise. You can look across a playground or mall and see small groups of females standing or sitting while talking. Research has shown that friendships enrich your life and promote overall good health. Friends provide comfort and laughter. Is it any wonder females tend to seek out friendships and chat amongst ourselves?
The question is, how can we get girls to be more active? Ridgers offers this idea: "Schools should be aware of the differences between the way girls and boys behave in the playground and the fact that girls tend to favour small group activities. They could then consider the availability of equipment and provision of playtime activities that would encourage girls to take part in more vigorously active play." Now how about at home? The next time your daughter has a friend or two over, encourage activities like taking a walk or going for a swim. They can still get their gossip on. You can also encourage your daughter to workout with friends. Studies show exercising with a partner is more effective anyway, so why not combine her need of companionship with her need to exercise? Sure, girls just want to have fun, but they should be healthy, too.
Further information about these studies can be found here at BBC News.
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