Building "U" Health & Fitness Project

Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council launched Building U, a Delmarva Peninsula-wide community service project for Girl Scouts, their families, and communities to learn about healthy lifestyles through age specific activities. Building U will focus on fitness, health, and community service.

The facts regarding the health of girls today are striking:

• 15.1% of 15 year-old girls are overweight compared to 10.8% of 13 year-old girls.
• Teen girls account for 58 percent of new AIDS cases reported among young people ages 13-19.
• Girls are beginning to drink at younger ages.  In the 1960’s, 7 percent of new female users of alcohol were between the ages of 10 and 14, compared to 31 percent by the early 1990’s.
• Dissatisfaction with body image increases as girls progress into adolescence. While 75 percent of third graders agree with the statement “I like the way I look,” only 56 percent of seventh graders agree.

In the 2002 report, New Directions for Girls 11-17, both Girl Scouts and non-Girl Scouts expressed a strong interest in: self-defense, exercise/fitness, sports, healthy eating habits, and cooking. Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council is promoting health and fitness to girls through age specific activities and resources on www.girlscoutschesapeakebay.org.

Some of the activities are:

In the Zone - drug prevention program
Walk in Juliette’s Shoes - a walking program for girls and families
Think Pink - partnering with Biden Breast Health Initiative
Life 101 - Teen Health Fair  covering stress management,  AIDS education, date rape
Go Girl, Go! - girls 3-8 aged learn about body image, bullying, diversity, drugs, & stress
Fit  for  a Princess - for girls age  8-11 focusing on eating smart and being active
Delaware Lt. Governor’s Fitness Challenge

The Girl Scout Research Institute Weighing In: Helping Girls Be Healthy Today, Healthy tomorrow identified key research trends for youth in the areas of health, nutrition, and physical activity as they relate to child obesity and weight issues focusing on gender and cultural issues.

Girl Scouts has had a long history of offering generations of girls inventive programs in sports, nutrition, and health starting with the founder, Juliette Gordon Low, who encouraged girls in 1912 to “eat well and get their heart and blood in working order.”

Many girls today have needs that aren’t being met, and we at the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council are stepping up to the plate to address the needs of girls by providing programs that develop strong values and life skills and using over voice to elevate awareness of the needs of girls.