Physical and Mental Health

Girls and boys from childhood to young adulthood experience varying degrees of physical and mental health. Although recent statistics show a disturbing trend among of youth health behaviors, there is opportunity for youth development and community-based organizations, health and education field, and public policy makers to engage and empower youth in healthy practices.

Statistics

• More than 10 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 5 are overweight, double the proportion since 1980. (Fitness.gov, The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports)

• In 2003–2004, Black, non-Hispanic girls were at particularly high risk of being overweight (25%), compared with White, non-Hispanic and Mexican American girls (16% and 17%, respectively). (Childstats.gov, America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2006)

• A daughter's dissatisfaction with her weight is greater if her mother is also dissatisfied with her own weight, in spite of how much a daughter actually weighs. (The Girl Scout Research Institute, The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living (2006))

• In 2005, females were more likely than males to engage in disordered eating with 6% of females reporting vomiting or using laxatives to control weight compared with 3% of males. (ChildTrends.org, Child and Youth Indicators Databank: Disordered Eating—Symptoms of Bulimia, 2006)

• Although about two-thirds of girls aged 8 to 17 correctly identified themselves as being either normal weight or overweight, one-third have a distorted idea about their weight—either perceiving themselves as too heavy when they are, in fact, of normal weight, or feeling their weight is "about right" when they actually are too heavy. Specifically, 45% of girls that were overweight and 61% of girls at risk of being overweight see themselves as normal weight, while 14% of normal weight girls believe they are overweight. (The Girl Scout Research Institute, The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living (2006))

• In 2005, female youth were nearly twice as likely as male youth to report seriously considering suicide (22% versus 12%) and attempting suicide (11% versus 6%). However, males were far more likely to succeed in committing suicide. (ChildTrends.org, Child and Youth Indicators Databank: Suicidal Teens, 2006)

• Overall, the prevalence of having seriously considered attempting suicide was higher among white female (21.5%) and Hispanic female (24.2%) than black female (17.1%) students. (Centers for Disease Control, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—2005)

• In 2005, there were 5.5 million youths aged 12 to 17 (21.8%) who received treatment or counseling for emotional or behavior problems in the year prior to the interview. Adolescent females were more likely than adolescent males to report past year treatment for mental health problems (23.6% vs. 20.0%). (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Survey on Drug Use and Health: 2005)

• In 2005 high school females (8.1%) were nearly twice as likely as their male counterparts (4.6%) to take diet pills, powders, or liquids without a doctor's advice to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight. Further, high school females (6.2%) were three times as likely as their male counterparts (2.8%) to vomit or take laxatives to lose weight or to keep from gaining weight. (Centers for Disease Control, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—2005)

• For many girls, health is the absence of illness or of unhealthy behavior. Being free of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco was cited by the greatest number (87%) of girls as being very important. (The Girl Scout Research Institute, The New Normal? What Girls Say About Healthy Living (2006))