Girls on the Run: So much more than sports

Kids need exercise perhaps even more than adults do – and they may get more out of it.

Girls on the Run, a program for 3rd- through 8th-grade girls sponsored by Magee-Womens Hospital, teaches exercise as a gateway to a healthy life in so many ways, says Meredith Colaizzi, program director. When begun at those young ages, she notes, exercise can result not only in a healthy body and a great lifetime habit but all sorts of developmental skills, from social and emotional competencies to greater self-esteem and what she calls “higher body-size satisfaction.”

Girls on the Run combines a track program with an interactive curriculum that teaches girls how to avoid risky adolescent behaviors. The girls also take on a community-service project and complete a 5k race together. There are 380 girls in the program this fall; last spring’s session attracted 860.

“We hope that the program inspires girls to continue healthy habits,” she says, “such as running while breaking out of their comfort zone by trying new sports and activities.”

Writer: Marty Levine

Source: Meredith Colaizzi, Girls on the Run