Adolescent+Girls+too+Afraid+to+Play+Sport+due+to+Body+Image+Issues


 * Adolescent Girls too Afraid to Play Sport due to Body Image Issues**

Name: Kimberly Rase Student Number: n8312435 Tutor: Sophie Miller

**Topic**

What is the underlying cause that is resulting in young adolescent girls to stop competing in sport and recreational activities?

**Artefact**

The artefact depicts a group of young girls who have not yet reached adolescence on the side line of a soccer field. All girls have happy and excited expressions on their faces. Participating in team sports as well as physical activity is a healthy and enjoyable activity that can bring a sense of belonging and satisfaction to many people’s lives.



**Public Health Issue**

The artefact symbolises and emphasises the amount of enjoyment sport and physical activity can bring to children’s lives, yet the participation rates for adolescent girls is still dropping so rapidly posing the question of why is this occurring? Adolescence is the period between puberty and adult stages of development (Macquarie Dictionary, 2004). By critically analysing literature and statistics, social theories and philosophies of reason’s and trends will provide an in depth understanding of why this is a common pattern for adolescent girls. Furthermore, discussing current strategies and programs that have been successful to keep girls active through adolescence and into adulthood will provide an understanding of what further changes can be implemented to increase the success rate.

**Literature Review**

The underlying reason for the lack of involvement in sport in the demographic of 10 – 15 year old girls is believed to be directly linked to body image and body conscious issues. When going through puberty, females start to develop breasts, broader hips and their percentage of body fat increases. These unusual body changes can cause severe lack of self esteem and body images issues. Exercising excessively to lose weight to maintain their perceived view of the ideal body or stopping any sort of sport all together due to self consciousness are two results that occur often after girls have hit puberty (Rhea, 1998).

The 2011 Sports and Physical Recreation: A Statistical Overview conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) found that participation rates for girls between the ages of 9 – 11 years was 64.6% however the participation rates dropped by 9.7% to 54.9% at the ages of 12- 14. The drop in these results is quite significant in comparison to the males who had an increase in participation by 2.1% when reaching the ages of 12-14. Further studies have also shown the same results with a decline in physical activity to start around age 11-13 years and continue through young adulthood. (Telama & Yang, 2000). All results have indicated that the age that female’s stop playing sport and being physically active is when they reach adolescence. A direct link between the inactivity in adolescent females and the proportion of girls who are overweight can be made. The Australian Social Trends Report (2009) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown between the ages of 13-17 years have had a 8% rise in overweight girls from the years 1995 – 2007-08 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). It is important to identify the barriers that are causing such a decline in physical activity for adolescent girls.

Stereotypes and body image issues are major underlying issues girls are facing causing them to stop participating in sport all together. It is indicated strongly that this trend has been occurring for years and continues today. Research has shown that young children who are very physically active are likely to remain as active several years later. Similarly, less active children are likely to remain less active (Landsbaugh, 2007). It is important that the decline in participation rates within adolescence girls is addressed as other health complications have an increased chance of arising during adulthood. For instance inactivity can lead to coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, maturity onset diabetes, overweight and obesity, and osteoporosis (Vuori, 2001).

Dywer, Allison, Goldenberg and Fein (2006) conducted a study to identify the main cause for the lack of participation. The results determined girls experienced a perceived lack of time, involvement in technology based activities, competition, influence of social groups and body centred issues. (Dywer, Allison, Goldenberg & Fein, 2006). The issues surrounding body centred issues were highly related to girls menstruating and feeling uncomfortable participating in physical activity, other reasons also included how girl’s looked in certain uniforms such as shorts and swimming costumes in front of the opposite sex. Being embarrassed in front of others was also another reason why girl’s preferred not to participate in sport or be an active participant in their physical education class. Lastly participants stated that they felt that sport was seen as a masculine activity as opposed to a feminine activity and they felt as they had to choose.

When recruiting participants for this particular study interested adolescents completed a survey regarding questions to do with age, gender, current grade and ethno cultural origin. There were seven focus sessions and participants were selected to ensure cultural diversity occurred in each session. The majority of participants were between the ages of 15 – 16 years of age. All participants were educated about the different characteristics of physical activity and then asked to discuss questions relating to perceived barriers and what would make them want to participate in physical activity. Certain aspects of the study had slight downfalls for instance the study targeted an urban group of students not including student’s from rural areas who may have a slightly different view on physical activity. The barriers found were perceived by student’s it was not observed by researchers any further to determine whether the barriers were actual barriers. The study was quite small which could also be seen as an incompetent amount to reach such generalisations of barriers for adolescent girls. A positive to the study was that all participants were voluntary which would decrease of the chance of false results.

It is particularly important that programs are preventive, enjoyable and promote fun and enjoyment programs must also include particular activities that are gender only based and cater especially for girl’s needs. Creating and implementing programs like these are sending positive messages that sport and physical activity can be enjoyable and is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

**Cultural and Social Analysis**

The perceived image of a female body is slim and slender, this image is put into a child’s mind at a young age due to constant media attention in magazines, television and radio (Markova, 2007). A person’s body and weight is constantly discussed and adolescent girls become more and more aware of what society has built to be the ideal body. Research has proven females experienced lower levels of self-esteem after reading magazines and were more predisposed to development of eating disorders, participants also discussed noticeable influence of thin images and body-related stories in magazines on their desire to follow cultural norms represented (Markova, 2007). Sport has culturally been associated with males and a masculine activity as some sports restrict girls from playing. This can deter some girls from wanting to participate in the activity.

The environment a child is in depicts their thought and actions and when a child reaches puberty with many changes occurring, it can often cause self conscious issues. The study Environmental Influences on Children's Physical Activity: Quantitative Estimates Using a Twin Design found there is a strong impetus that specific environmental characteristics influencing children's activity (Fisher, Van Jaarsveld, Llewellyn & Wardle, 2010). This can lead to girl’s becoming unsure that their body is seen to be good looking. This has caused a significant effect on the choice of competing in physical activity and sport for adolescent girls. Lacking confidence to compete in front of others especially the opposite sex, self conscious about certain uniforms that show off body parts all lead to the decline in participation.

Girls between the ages of 10 to 15 are often the most affected by body image and insecurity. Statistics show the participation rates for girls eventually starts to increase at the age of 15 -17 years with a 71.1% participation rate as opposed to a 54.9% participation rate at the ages of 12-14 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). With such a significant drop in the stage of adolescence it makes it extremely important to target and overcome the barriers girls are currently facing.

It is important to have specific programs catering for adolescent girl’s needs as one of the side effects currently is stopping all physical activity or heavily increasing it. Both consequences are extremely unhealthy and pose major health effects. Increasing physical activity to dangerous levels can cause eating disorders malnutrition and many health implications. Inactivity can also cause a large amount of problems as well as early onset of certain diseases and the beginning of others. It is important for adolescents to regularly exercise as according to The World Health Organisation it can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, colon and breast cancer, depression and help control weight (WHO, 2011).

Governments, parents and teachers would all benefit from this perspective of the issue. By implementing programs that do not only address the issue but also try to prevent it from occurring will save a large amount of money in future years on health. It has been estimated that health expenditure in Australia in 2008-09 reached $112.8 billion, an increase of $9.2 billion since 2007-08 (AIHW 2010). Parent’s would be able to ensure that their daughters are not going through any severe self conscious issues and always encouraging them to participate in sport and types of physical activity. Teachers like parents have a large influence of children’s lives by encouraging them to have a go and feel comfortable in the class room it will decrease the chances of the student being embarrassed and deterred from physical education classes.

**Analysis of the Artefact and Your Own Learning Reflections**

The artefact represented the enjoyment children can have with playing sport and being physically active. It shows viewers that all sport can be enjoyable by both genders. It also questions why adolescence participation rates do decrease when children experience such enjoyment and fun when involved in sport. The topic is an eye opener as it shows how adolescence views on sport and physical activity considerably changes within such a short time. It taught me how the enjoyment can be lost so easily in adolescents lives due to body image insecurities. The artefact is believed to be a good case in point as it demonstrates the enjoyment that is able to come out of playing sport and being physically active and this is able to occur throughout adolescence and into adulthood if in the right environment.

The amount of information learnt was astounding from critically analysing studies and research on this topic, it was never apparent to me of the underlying issues young girls were facing at such a young age and leading them to stop sport all together. Being in an environment where it was normal for girls to be physically active throughout all age groups it has been insightful to learn the large decrease in participation and what aspects of programs that are able to overcome the current barriers adolescent girls are facing. The assessment task has made me more aware of the effects and influences the environment and media have upon adolescent children and how I can one day as a teacher be able encourage adolescent students to keep participating in sport as it is enjoyable with friends and part of a healthy lifestyle.

**Links**

Artefact : []

**Reference List**

AIHW. (2010). Health expenditure Australia 2008-09. Health and welfare expenditure (Series no. 42). Canberra: AIHW.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009). Australian Social Trends. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features20Sep+2009

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Sports and Physical Recreation: A Statistical Overview, Australia. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/2F119C9289BDB079CA2578DC0001E45C?opendocument

Dwyer, J., Allison, K., Goldenberg, E. & Fein, A. (2006). Adolescent girls' perceived barriers to participation in physical activity. //Adolescence, 41//(161), 75-75-89. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/195937749?accountid=13380

Fisher, A., Van Jaarsveld, C., Llewellyn, C., & Wardle, J. (2010) Environmental Influences on Children's Physical Activity: Quantitative Estimates Using a Twin Design. PLoS One 5(4). doi:10.1371

Janz, K., Burns, T. & Levy, S. (2005). Tracking of activity and sedentary behaviours in childhood. //American Journal of Preventive Medicine.// 29(3):171-178. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2005.06.001

Landsbaugh, J. (2007). //A longitudinal study examining the relation of physical activity on weight status during adolescence.// University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304836973?accountid=13380

Markova, S. (2007). //Body images in magazines: A cross-cultural investigation of media effects in russian and U.S. young women.// University of Maryland, College Park. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304854781?accountid=13380

Macquarie Pocket Dictionary (3rd Edition). (2004). Milton: QLD: John Wiley & Sons Australia.

Rhea, D. J. (1998). Physical activity and body image of female adolescents. //Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 69//(5), 27-27-31. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215767982?accountid=13380

Telama, R. & Yang, X. (2000). Decline of physical activity from youth to young adulthood in Finland. //Medicine Science Sports and Exercise.// 32(9),1617-1622. doi:10.1097/00005768-200009000-00015

Vuori, I. M. (2001). Health benefits of physical activity with special reference to interaction with diet. //Public Health Nutrition, 4//(2), 517-517-28. doi:10.1079/PHN2001137

I think this was a very informative and confronting piece you have written. Over consumption of alcohol is an issue that is defiantly predominant within the demographic of university students. The research you have provided is quite detailed but still concise and is particularly alarming in regards to the amount of deaths and injuries due to over consumption of alcohol. I think you have outlined the importance and influence Australian culture has over this current health issue within Australian’s youth well, however some research is slightly outdated. Your assignment and choice or artefact has provided readers with an in depth analysis or generation Y’s health problem and has also provided awareness that this problem is worsening.
 * Reflections **
 * Reflection One - Gen Y's New Outlook - DRINKING TO GET DRUNK!**

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You have provided an in depth analysis of the values of generation Y in comparison to past generations. I believe you have written a great piece of literature with sufficient research that has given readers an insight into the generation Y’s values and beliefs. Many issues you have brought up in your assignment have made me more aware of generation Y’s attributes that I was not fully aware of before. I am also more aware of the difference in the way generation Y do live in comparison to the baby boomers for instance. You have stated both sides of generation Y’s values in lives by not being bias. For example you have stated that generation Y see technology as a status symbol instead and do not find saving money as important as their parent’s generation which may be seen as a negative. You have still however included that their reason for this is that they value life experiences more than money as well as other aspects. I think you have written very concisely an interesting and effective piece of writing.
 * Reflection Two - Gen Y in the workforce**

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