Girls benefit from single-sex physical activity.

COMMENT:

There is a widespread thought that the best and most egalitarian education for both sexes is that which occurs in co-educational contexts. However, in the field of physical education there is sufficient scientific basis to claim that girls benefit from single-sex physical education classes or extracurricular activities.

The following scientific articles analyze the factors that cause discomfort in girls and adolescents. In general, girls express that when they participate in sports activities with boys they insult and despise them, which causes discomfort and progressive abandonment of physical activity. It is also important to mention the conflicting perception of one’s own body in adolescent girls due to gender stereotypes, harassment and criticism. Some girls think that participating in sport can bring with it a loss of femininity and with it a loss of attractiveness.

Single-sex activities provide safety, more self-efficacy and the possibility of leadership in sport that makes it possible to avoid abandoning physical activity in girls and adolescents. In addition, it has been detected that many girls prefer physical activity that does not involve competitiveness and that they also benefit when offered a certain variety of physical activities.

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES:

1) Biddle, S. J.; Braithwaite, R. & Pearson, N. The effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity among young girls: A meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine, 2014, 62, 119-131 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.02.009

2) Natalie Pearson, Rock Braithwaite, Stuart J.H. Biddle, (2015) The Effectiveness of Interventions to Increase Physical Activity Among Adolescent Girls: A Meta-analysis, Academic Pediatrics, Volume 15, Issue 1, Pages 9-18, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2014.08.009.

3) Corr, M., McSharry, J., & Murtagh, E. M. (2019). Adolescent Girls’ Perceptions of Physical Activity: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies. American Journal of Health Promotion, 33(5), 806–819. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117118818747

4) Vu, M. B., Murrie, D., Gonzalez, V., & Jobe, J. B. (2006). Listening to Girls and Boys Talk About Girls’ Physical Activity Behaviors. Health Education & Behavior, 33(1), 81–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198105282443

5) Amy Slater, Marika Tiggemann, (2011) Gender differences in adolescent sport participation, teasing, self-objectification and body image concerns. Journal of Adolescence. Volume 34, Issue 3, Pages 455-463, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.06.007

6) Felton, G., Saunders, R.P., Ward, D.S., Dishman, R.K., Dowda, M. and Pate, R.R. (2005), Promoting Physical Activity in Girls. Journal of School Health, 75: 57-62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2005.tb00011.x

7) Timken, G., McNamee, J., & Coste, S. (2019). ‘It doesn’t seem like PE and I love it’: Adolescent girls’ views of a health club physical education approach. European Physical Education Review, 25(1), 109–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X17706382

Girls benefit from single-sex physical activity.

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