Food & Health Alliance

Taylor, J., Department of Sports Studies, University of Stirling for Youth Scotland, Healthier Scotland and the Robertson Trust.  (2008).

Report that summarises the effect of the ‘Girls on the Move’ programme that aimed to reduce b arriers to participation in physical activity for adolescent females.  The programme focused on reaching ‘at risk’ females to unhealthy behaviours.  Two strands were involved in the programme, a participation (providing grants to community groups) and Leadership training component (training females as sports leaders). 

Methods:  A variety of methods were used, such as qualitative research methods (surveys and attendance sheets) and qualitative research methods (observation, interviews and discussions) to assess the effectiveness of the programme.  1,800 girls took part in the participation programme.

Findings:  Half of the females were involved in planning of activities.  Many different forms of activities were provided, however dance was the most popular activity.  Traditional team games were not as popular with this target group.  Half of the girls that registered at the beginning of the project were still involved at the end, however ¼ of the girls had low attendance rates.  Project leaders listed a number of positive impacts that the project had, such as: increasing the level of girls’ levels of activity, helping girls’ develop new friendships, removing barriers to participating in new activities and improving group cohesion.  In terms of removing barriers having girls only activities was very important, especially in terms of removing competitive environment.  14% of girls indicated that they had an illness (most commonly asthma) or disability that usually prevented them from participating in physical activity, therefore indicating that the project could reach at risk adolescents.   62% of the adolescents were more physically active by the end of the programme, also girls who had not taken part in any physical activity in the past seven days had declined from 13% to 7%. Increases in physical self-perception and self-esteem increased throughout the period of the project. Fifteen percent of the participants in the Leadership Training Course were previously involved in the Participation Programme.

Implications:  Funding has been provided to continue the programme from 2008 to 2011.  Some questions were raised to the intensity of activity that adolescent females were participating in, however it must be remembered the low level of activity that these females were engaged in prior to beginning the programme.  More training should be delivered for leisure providers on different activity types and the outcomes to be expected from these activities. Providers should also be trained in skills to measure the impact of physical activity on girls’ health.  More physically demanding activities should be introduced with caution in order to prevent putting adolescent females off participation.