Changing the Game, for Girls

This report from the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) identifies that girls in the UK are not getting enough exercise – and that schools hold the key to encouraging girls to get active.

The report, based on research carried out by the Institute of Youth Sport at Loughborough University, shows that half of all girls (51%) are put off physical activity by their experiences of school sport and PE.

The report also highlights the gender gap that emerges between girls and boys as they grow up. In Year 4 of primary school, girls and boys are doing similar levels of physical activity. However, by Year 6 girls are doing considerably less exercise than boys – a gap that widens as girls reach Year 9 of secondary school.

As part of the research, a survey asked 1,500 school children about their attitudes to fitness and sport. Key findings include:

• Half of all girls (51%) are put off physical activity by their experiences of school sport and PE.
• 45% of girls say “sport is too competitive” and more than half think boys enjoy competitive sport more than girls.
• Over half of all boys and girls agree that “there are more opportunities for boys to succeed in sport than girls.”
• Half of the girls surveyed (48%) say that getting sweaty is “not feminine.”
• Nearly a third of boys think that girls who are sporty are not very feminine.
• Of the least active girls, 46% say that they don’t like the activities they get to do in PE compared to 26% of the most active.
• 43% of girls agree that “there aren’t many sporting role models for girls.”

Download: Changing the Game, for Girls