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seabeyond

(110,159 posts)
Sat Jul 28, 2012, 12:32 PM Jul 2012

Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives



5 reasons girls should play sports

Girls who play sports do better in school. You might think that athletics will take up all your study time. But research shows that girls who play sports do better in school than those who don't. Exercise improves learning, memory, and concentration, which can give active girls an advantage in the classroom.

Girls who play sports learn teamwork and goal-setting skills. Sports teaches valuable life skills. When you working with coaches, trainers, and teammates to win games and achieve goals, you're learning how to be successful. Those skills will serve you well at work and in family life.

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Playing sports boosts self-confidence. Girls who play sports feel better about themselves. Why? It builds confidence when you know you can practice, improve, and achieve your goals. Sports are also a feel-good activity because they help girls get in shape, maintain a healthy weight, and make new friends.

Exercise cuts the pressure. Playing sports can lessen stress and help you feel a little happier. How? The brain chemicals released during exercise improve a person's mood. Friends are another mood-lifter. And being on a team creates tight bonds between friends. It's good to know your teammates will support you — both on and off the field!

http://kidshealth.org/kid/stay_healthy/fit/5_sports.html


As Girls Become Women, Sports Pay Dividends

A large body of research shows that sports are associated with all sorts of benefits, like lower teenage pregnancy rates, better grades and higher self-esteem. But until now, no one has determined whether those improvements are a direct result of athletic participation. It may be that the type of girl who is attracted to sports already has the social, personal and physical qualities — like ambition, strength and supportive parents — that will help her succeed in life. Now, separate studies from two economists offer some answers, providing the strongest evidence yet that team sports can result in lifelong improvements to educational, work and health prospects. At a time when the first lady, Michelle Obama, has begun a nationwide campaign to improve schoolchildren’s health, the lessons from Title IX show that school-based fitness efforts can have lasting effects.

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Using a complex analysis, Dr. Stevenson showed that increasing girls’ sports participation had a direct effect on women’s education and employment. She found that the changes set in motion by Title IX explained about 20 percent of the increase in women’s education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women. “It’s not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life,” she said, adding, “While I only show this for girls, it’s reasonable to believe it’s true for boys as well.”

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He found that the increase in girls’ athletic participation caused by Title IX was associated with a 7 percent lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later, when women were in their late 30s and early 40s. His article was published this month in the journal Evaluation Review. Dr. Kaestner notes that while a 7 percent decline in obesity is modest, no other public health program can claim similar success. And other studies have shown that even a small drop in weight can lower risk for diabetes and other health problems.

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“While we have more girls than ever before, we still have far more boys playing sports than girls,” said Nicole M. LaVoi, associate director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota. “The research clearly states that when anybody, boys and girls, are physically active, they can reap developmental and health benefits. But we haven’t reached equality yet.”

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/as-girls-become-women-sports-pay-dividends/








_________________________-

i am getting jazzed and doing a lot of thinking and remembering with the olympics. sports is really a good thing, if the child is inclined.





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hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
1. I spent many years picking up various kids at the high school after practice or yearbook or
Sat Jul 28, 2012, 12:38 PM
Jul 2012

whatever. It was always wonderful to see so many kids out on the tennis courts, softball and baseball diamonds, down on the track, etc. It was always sad to see a bunch just hanging out down the railroad tracks, usually smoking.

 

seabeyond

(110,159 posts)
2. it does so much for all kids. but, i think, especially girls. i have a son that has really gotten
Sat Jul 28, 2012, 12:42 PM
Jul 2012

into his sport, cross country/track. all the time put into practice twice a day and concern for school. yet.... he is one of the top in his class. it focuses. gives a reason to just say no. keeps busy and out of trouble. they have to learn to org and prioritize. so many good things in it.

i have another son that hasnt found his place yet. just stepping into high school. it is his to figure out. but, i am hoping he finds something he can be passionate about, also.

bhikkhu

(10,708 posts)
5. Something I learned from the book "Born to Run" might be useful -
Sun Jul 29, 2012, 01:20 PM
Jul 2012

talking about how performance changes over one's lifetime and when one is "over the hill", humans turn out to be pretty unique.

Generally, for a serious athlete performance will peak around age 28. The interesting things is when you look at the whole curve - if you ask how long into the age-decline curve it takes for performance to fall back to what it was at age 19, it takes about 34 years. That is, barring injury and accident, you can reach a level at age 19 and remain at or above that level for 45 years, until about age 64.

Too many kids don't take that into account, and don't think too much about a lifetime of fitness - rather they tend to be in a such a massive urgent competitive rush to improve that they miss a lot they should have learned, and fall out of a sport in frustration. Slow and steady really does win the race, over time.

I'm a cyclist myself and, at 47, have learned a great deal about training methods in the last few years. Currently faster and stronger than I ever was when younger, and enjoying the heck out of the summer so far.

 

seabeyond

(110,159 posts)
6. thanks bhikkhu
Sun Jul 29, 2012, 01:26 PM
Jul 2012

that is the hugest advantage from what i have seen, as i age. and all in my family. cause all of us were into our sport. it is not so much a genetic thing. but what we did in our youth.

thank you for explaining it as you did. i knew it to be true, i had no facts on it, though.

tularetom

(23,664 posts)
3. Like anything else it can be overdone
Sat Jul 28, 2012, 12:57 PM
Jul 2012

My granddaughter was a very athletic and active child. As she grew into adolescence she could outrun any of the neighborhood boys and could also hold her own in a fight with them. She was an outstanding track and cross country runner in high school and went to college on an athletic scholarship.

After college she continued to run something like 80 miles a week just to stay in condition and competed in 2 or 3 marathons every year. The problem was that her job and social life began to conflict with her running schedule. She'd get cranky when she couldn't get out and run and she'd run in such crappy weather that she'd catch cold. She got married and then divorced when her husband couldn't or wouldn't run with her. When she got a stress fracture from too much running she had to sit on her ass for a few months and got so depressed she quit her job.

What saved her was getting another job that got her so enthused that running became a sideline instead of the center of her life. Eventually she weaned herself off the insane training regimen and went back to a reasonable exercise schedule. She met another guy, got married again, and now has two kids. She's a stay at home mom with lots of responsibilities so she confines her running to a couple of miles each day in the park pushing a stroller.

I think sports/exercise is almost a necessity for a healthy life. And it's great if a kid wants to do it on their own rather than being pushed into it by their parents. But it shouldn't become an addiction.


 

seabeyond

(110,159 posts)
4. yes. this is true. in all things. as i say, if kids are so inclined. i grew up in a house where
Sat Jul 28, 2012, 01:02 PM
Jul 2012

i felt our sports where parallel to love. not true, i am sure. but, with my kids, it is theirs to do. i cannot be the parent that forces my kids in these decisions.

moderation in all things, is healthy

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