F- a ( — 49 | ANE i mH a America’s Girls Get Active Through GoGirlGo! (NAPSA)—Did you know that girls who exercise between the critical development ages o 8-18 lower their risk or teen pregnancy, depression and have shown improved academic perormance and career success? In act, many o the unique physical and psychological health issues acing young women today such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes can be avoided through regular physical activity, according to a recent report entitled “Her Lie Depends on It” released by the Women’s Sports Foundation. The Foundation, celebrating 30 years o advancing the lives o girls and women through sports andphysical activity, has launched GoGirlGo! to help get girls active. This national education and awareness campaign arms adults andgirls with the tools to live an active liestyle and educate others about physical activity. The program aims to get one million inactive girls to participate in regular physical activity and keep another one million already active girls rom dropping out. “The physical activity system or youth has disintegrated over the last 30 years. The result is a generation o sedentary youth with girls more adversely aected than boys,” said Dawn Riley, Women’s Sports Foundation president and ormer America’s Cup team member. “In 1974, only one out o 21 girls was obese or overweight; today that igure has increased to one in six, and it’s cause or action. GoGirlGo! is a step toward breaking down barriers and getting girls involved in activity.” Since girls are morelikely to participate in activity with encouragement rom parents or active role models, the key to the success o GoGirlGo! is or mentors to get involved. Mentors—both adults and active girls—can show thatit’s easy to get started andactivity can be un. To help a girl you know get active, log onto www.GoGirlGo.com. Adults can register their oicial pledge to activate a girl and access tips on how to motivate her. Girls can click over to GoGirl World where they can share their experi- A new program aims to get one million girls ages eight to 18 to become moreactive. ences via message boards, take a survey to see what sport might be just right or her interest and skill and be an Ambassador and get others involved. On the Web site, adults and teens can pledgeto get a girl active by joining tennis legend Billie Jean King’s team, World Cup soccer star Julie Foudy, or Olympic gold medal gymnast Dominique Dawes’s team. Other components o the campaign include: (1) Grant Program —grants to enable new sport and physical activity opportunities to be oered and expand programs to accommodate recruited inactive girls; (2) education and awareness campaign—Aree, curriculumbased educational program created or girls, coaches and parents to reinorce positive behaviors and educate one million currently active girls; and (3) communitybased activation—GoGirlGo! Days and public inormation campaigns will be conducted in pilot communities. GoGirlGo! national sponsors Advanta, Gatorade, Moving Com- ort and Russell Corporation and the Wm.Wrigley Jr. Company will activate their consumer networks to help educate girls and adults o all ages on the important role sport and physical activity play in the lives o Americangirls. The Women’s Sports Foundation is an educational nonproit organization ounded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King. To learn more, visit www.Go GirlGo.com.
