Lack of self-confidence, puberty, fear of judgment from others (especially boys in the class), concerns about their weight or appearance, offered physical activities that do not suit their taste: these are some of the obstacles that cause adolescent girls to do the same stay sedentary.
Published at 1:22 am. Updated at 5:00 am.
What there is to know
- In 2022, only 31% of Canadian women aged 12 to 17 followed minimum recommendations for the number of minutes they devote to physical activity1.
- One in three Canadian teenagers aged 13 to 18 who play sports are unsure whether they will continue, according to 2022 data.
- A program in Quebec specifically designed to get girls to move more — among themselves, out of sight of boys, by offering them activities that take into account their preferences — is bearing fruit, a study says.
This is where the FitSpirit program seeks to remedy the situation by supporting schools that accept girls ages 12 to 17 (at a cost of $400 per facility).
Inactivity has nothing to do with laziness, emphasizes Geneviève Leduc, senior program advisor at FitSpirit, and everything to do with the reality of adolescent girls.
The onset of menstruation is often accompanied by abdominal pain, but not only that, notes Geneviève Leduc.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
The senior program advisor at Fitactive, Geneviève Leduc
We ask a girl to invest in her physical activity without thinking that what she might be thinking about when we ask her to jump up and down is that she feels a flow. [menstruel] what bothers him.
Geneviève Leduc, senior program advisor at Fitactive
The obligatory swimming pool for the whole class without other options is also not part of Fitactive’s philosophy, notes Ms. Leduc.
Girls also often feel uncomfortable with their new hair or their breasts when playing sports. Here’s a little tip for parents: A sports bra is a good purchase for the teenager in the house, emphasizes Geneviève Leduc.
Parents also have to make sure that their daughters start playing different sports at a young age “so that they don’t develop a skills deficit.”
Physical education teachers have long known that children should not be allowed to choose their teammates to avoid humiliating the weakest by being chosen last.
The fact is that “many girls lack athletic skills, which undermines their confidence,” notes Ms. Leduc, because they were not encouraged to play sports as much as boys during their childhood.
No more obstacles
Some barriers are also related to safety, whether the fears come from the parents or the young people themselves. Is the locker room deserted in the middle of nowhere at school? And for physical activities outside of school hours – because that is the ultimate goal, that girls play sports for fun – “is the bike path adequately lit” to get to the gym or the municipal swimming pool?
Without generalizing, Ms. Leduc also emphasizes that girls, unlike boys, like to cool down after physical activity. In schools there are often not enough changing rooms for showers, but the girls want to be able to at least take care of the toilet a little in order to have time to style their hair a little (the boys, with their often short hair, have less with this topic to do).
“Adolescent girls often forgo lunchtime activities because they don’t have time to freshen up” before returning to class.
Most importantly, we need to continue to offer girls activities that they enjoy, not just team sports “with a goal on one side, a goal on the other side and lines on the side,” explains Ms. Leduc.
Not everyone — some teens love fighting for a ball — but in general, girls are less fond of competitions and timed activities, she continues.
What do they generally like?
Teenage girls closely follow trends, new activities, for example Zumba or yoga.
Marie-Ève Mathieu, associate professor at the School of Kinesiology at the University of Montreal, who conducted a study on the benefits of the Fitactive program for five years
Even outside: jogging in a group without the pressure of a stopwatch, mountain climbing, obstacle courses are activities that teenagers enjoy.
The benefits of the program have been confirmed
For her study, Professor Marie-Ève Mathieu tracked 3,584 girls supported by Fitactive. Are those who attend schools that subscribe to the program more active? Are their other lifestyle habits – sleep, diet – also indirectly improved?
Ms. Mathieu’s study concludes: Yes. Of the girls who were inactive at the start of the FitSpirit program, 32% increased their physical activity.
And if that wasn’t the direct goal, the more years the teens followed the program, the more their sleep improved.
“And between the beginning and end of the school year, we observed that the girls ate less sweets,” says Ms. Mathieu.
Additionally, school officials found that students in the FitSpirit program had much more confidence, improved their physical skills and were more participatory.
So much so that Ms. Mathieu notes that inactive boys – of which there are also a lot – would also benefit from a program tailored specifically to them.
Ms Mathieu also finds it regrettable that young people – girls and boys – are often asked to specialize in a single sport at a very early age.
Instead of having a club that offers diving, swimming and water polo, a 10 year old child is asked to choose diving exclusively.
Geneviève Leduc, senior program advisor at Fitactive
“Girls also often do figure skating or gymnastics as children. However, when they grow a lot, it often leads to them giving up these sports – especially gymnastics. »
And after years of intensive training during puberty, during which they have not been exposed to other sports, the risk of girls becoming inactive increases.
1. Lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity and screen time among young Canadians, Statistics Canada, October 2023.
2. The Rally Signal, Women and Sport in Canada (2020).