Exercise - Boys And Girls Do It Differently

We are all probably aware that men and women are very different when it comes to losing weight. Women struggle through the week and have a miserly one kilo weight drop. Men seem to slide through the week and they drop four kilos or more! But how does it work for children?

According to research reported in the NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey report, primary schools girls tend to be less active than the boys. 52% of boys do the right levels of physical activity, as compared with 41% of girls. This also may account then for there being more obese girls than boys at present.

To counteract this, sports teachers are recommending that the sexes should be segregated if only for these exercise sessions. They suggest adding diversity to the range of exercise and sports activities on offer.

It makes sense. If you think about it, much of the sport is very physical and involves strength as well as speed. Think about games like football or softball. Often boys tend to excel at these while girls lag behind.

Girls love skipping and activities that need coordination rather than strength. A cool way to get kids up and moving is to give them something to do that is fun. Trying out zumba lessons will get any girl on her feet. The report suggests adding zumba along with yoga or pilates as forms of exercise to interest girls.

Yes, most boys will run a mile at the thought of ‘dance’ exercise but what’s the problem with that? A run will do them good, too!