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Transcript The girls in the 2008 Minnesota state basketball tournament were competing for a shot at a championship …but that’s not all that was on the line. According to researchers at the University of Minnesota …win or lose on the court, these girls were already giving themselves healthier lives, both physically and mentally. “Socially, sports and physical activity help girls develop friendship, deal with conflict, work on communication, leadership skills…” Nicole LaVoi is one of the U of M researchers behind the Tucker Center report on girls and women in sports …a comprehensive look at the role sports and physical activity play in the lives of girls and young women in America. LaVoi says the results from this study are encouraging in some respects, but alarming in others. “We know that girls are not as active as boys, specifically when they approach adolescence. That’s when girls are at risk of dropping out of sports.” And that is a problem that extends well beyond the court. University of Minnesota president Robert Bruininks, who was deeply involved with the first Tucker Center report on girls sports in 1997, says a lack of physical activity affects performance in the classroom. “Young students in elementary and secondary school who engage in very rigorous and important cardiovascular activity end up achieving much higher on international tests.” Not to mention the medical side effects of little or no physical activity. Girls and boys alike, when they don’t get enough exercise, often develop serious health issues later in life, such as obesity and diabetes …issues that end up costing us all. “Diabetes today, for example, represents 10 percent of the US health care budget.” This report identifies the good and bad news of girls and women’s physical activity …and, offers suggestions for everyone from parents, to lawmakers about what can be done to make the situation better. “This country needs to make the same kind of commitment to girls involvement in sport and physical activity as we’ve always made for young boys.” Tucker Center Director Mary Jo Kane helped develop the Tucker Center Report in 1997 and the 10-year update. According to Kane, parents, teachers community leaders …and the girls themselves, need to pay attention to these issues in order to bring about change. “This is a multi-faceted issue, problem, challenge, opportunity and therefore we want everybody on board.” The report doesn’t mean every girl needs to sign up for soccer or basketball …LaVoi says there a lot of ways to get girls active. “What we’re finding is that girls like a wide variety of activities from walking to dance to jump rope. The critical thing is that we offer a variety of activities that appeal to a broad range of girls and not just assume that being physically active means competing in highly-competitive sports.” Activity, in some form, is the message …and as the report suggests, more active girls, is a win for everyone. At the University of Minnesota, I’m Justin Ware.
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