By Pyc Fitness
©2004-2008
Tennis legend Billie Jean King and soccer star Kristine Lilly will be at the University of Massachusetts at Boston campus tomorrow to help launch a new initiative entitled GoGirlGo!, which hopes to raise awareness about the role fitness should play in the lives of girls age 8 to 18.
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GoGirlGo! is the brainchild of the Women's Sports Foundation, which already has launched successful initiatives in Atlanta, Chicago, and San Antonio. Its Boston objectives will include providing grants to organizations that will provide physical activity for girls, providing a report card on the state of girls' physical activity and health in the city, and conducting workshops for leaders in the community who seek to recruit sedentary girls to participate in physical activity programs.
The Women's Sports Foundation, which has done extensive research on the connection between successful young women and fitness, determined the health of today's girls is "threatened by inactivity." According to the Foundation, regular participation in physical activity during adolescence promotes self-confidence and a positive body image.
Their research determined that one in every six girls is obese or overweight, and that overweight women are 60 percent more likely to die from breast cancer. The Foundation also discovered that a staggering 78 percent of 12th grade girls are unhappy with their bodies, and that one-third of adolescent girls will experience depression, anxiety or eating disorders.
Boston mayor Tom Menino has thrown his support behind the GoGirlGo! initiative and also will be at the UMass-Boston campus for the news conference.