- Given adequate levels of physical activity and caloric output, food consumption and caloric intake becomes less problematic.
- While wellness is advanced by a balanced and nutritious diet, it cannot be achieved without adequate levels of physical activity.
- Research shows that as physical activity levels increase, overweight and obesity decreases.
- Approaching food choices as optimizing fuel requirements of fitness avoids many of the emotional issues associated with food.
- The combination of diet and exercise has been shown to be superior to diet alone in treating obesity in children.
Why youth physical activity and not general population physical activity?
- Preventing the onset of overweight and obesity is more effective than reversing its course.
- Sports and fitness participation increases confidence and self-esteem which are inversely related to being overweight and obesity. Increased physical activity results in increased self-esteem for pre-adolescents.
- From the perspective of the general public, youth physical activity and obesity is a more critical issue than adult physical activity and obesity. We care more about our children than ourselves.
Why is the Women’s Sports Foundation focusing on the youth obesity issue?
- Girls are underserved by existing sports and physical activity programs and, as a result are more likely to be sedentary and at higher risk for obesity. For instance, according to a study by the Center for the Study of Sports in Society (CSSS), girls in the Boston urban area have one-sixth the sports opportunities that girls in the suburbs have.
- Research demonstrates that early exposure to sports and physical activity increases the likelihood of continued participation. For example, if girls do not participate in sport by the age of ten, there is less than a 10 percent chance that they will be participating at age twenty-five.
- Daily physical education in primary school appears to have a significant long-term positive effect on exercise habits in women. They are more active as they age.
- Female athletes are more likely to try to lose weight; and are more likely than non-athletes to use dieting and exercise to do so.
- In all grade levels, girls get significantly less activity than boys, yet 75 percent of them feel they get enough exercise.
