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Media Releases
Fighting Childhood Obesity & Body Image Issues!
Girl Scouts Launches Health &
Fitness Project!
Media Contact:
Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR
302-456-7170
avandenhurk@cbgsc.org
Newark, DE,
November,
2004:
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.
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.
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.
Please join the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake
Bay Council in empowering young women to live fit and healthy.
Building U is a follow-up to the violence prevention program,
From Girl Scouts with L.O.V.E (learning to overcome violence
everywhere.)
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Building U Fact Sheet
Building U Patch
How Families
Can Promote Healthy Lifestyles
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