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Do you want to support the health and happiness of the girls in your life? A great way to do that is to encourage them to be physically active. Being physically active can:

• Reduce stress and improve sleep
• Boost self-esteem
• Promote a healthy weight
• Build bones for strength
• Help avoid health problems such as diabetes
• Teach healthy habits that can last a lifetime

Of course, it can be hard to know how much and what types of exercise girls need. But our information for parents and caregivers can catch you up on the fitness basics.

Our overweight kids

Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States. If you think your child is obese or overweight, talk to her doctor about safe ways she can lose weight. Also ask if she needs to be checked for health problems that can come from obesity, such as diabetes. Make sure to give her the support she needs to lose weight — and the love and acceptance she needs to feel good about herself.

Want to learn more
about kids, activity, and weight? You can visit letsmove.gov. You also can explore BodyWorks, a program that teaches adults how to help teens stay a healthy weight.

It also can be a challenge to squeeze in time for exercise. We have tips that can help encourage girls to exercise. And remember, one great way to get girls to be active is to work out together. It's good for you, and helps build your relationship, too!

Making sure girls stay safe while getting fit is very important. Here are some suggestions:

• Always provide the right safety equipment for an activity, such as a well-fitted helmet. This video will show you how to fit a helmet the right way. And make sure to use the right equipment yourself to stay safe and to be a good role model.
• Look over some fitness safety tips with your girl.
• If a girl hasn't been active in a while, make sure she starts slowly and builds up gradually.
• Offer lots of water, especially when it's hot out.
• If a girl exercises so much that it interferes with the rest of her life, her physical and emotional health may be at risk. If you are concerned, talk with her doctor.

Featured articles

1. Are Steroids Worth the Risk?
2. Bike Safety
3. Compulsive Exercise
4. Fitness and Your 6- to 12-Year-Old
5. Fitness and Your 13- to 18-Year-Old
6. Fitness for Kids Who Don't Like Sports
7. Kids and Exercise
8. Motivating Kids to Be Active
9. Nutrition and Fitness Center
10. Sportsmanship
11. Strength Training and Your Child
12. Your Child’s Weight

Websites

1. Best Bones Forever! – The Best Bones Forever! Campaign encourages girls to get active and eat more foods with calcium and vitamin D. Why is this important? Because getting lots of physical activity and snacking on foods with calcium and vitamin D are what's best for bones! Healthy bones are important to grow strong and stay strong forever!
2. girlshealth.gov: Fitness – The girlshealth.gov section on fitness provides information, resources, and links to help girls learn more about fitness.
3. Let’s Move! – This website offers tips on how to encourage healthier, more active children.
4. Parent Information – This website offers information on various parenting topics including child safety, staying healthy, and developmental milestones.
5. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans: Children and Adolescents – This website has the most recent guidelines and recommendations on physical activity for children and adolescents ages 6 to 17.
6. We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition) – We Can! is a one-stop resource for parents and caregivers to help children 8 to 13 years old stay at a healthy weight. It provides tips and resources to teach children how to live a healthy lifestyle.

Publications

1. Body Mass Index (BMI): A Guide for Parents, Educators, School Nurses, and Health Care Providers (Copyright © Center for Young Women’s Health) – This guide helps you understand how BMI is measured, the limitations of BMI measurement, and when to be concerned about your teen’s BMI. Check out the video to learn more!
   
   http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/bmi_parents.html
2. BodyWorks: A Toolkit for Healthy Teens and Strong Families – This program is designed to help parents and caregivers of teens improve family eating and activity patterns. The toolkit gives parents tools to make small, specific behavior changes to stop obesity and help maintain a healthy weight.
   
   http://www.womenshealth.gov/bodyworks/
3. Catch the Ball (Girls and Women's Fitness Tips) – Today, more girls are participating in a wider array of physical activities and sports than ever before. This brochure reviews the physical and mental health benefits of involving girls in sports and provides 10 practical tips to get involved in your local community and encourage girls to reach their full potential.
   
   http://fitness.gov/catch.html
4. Children and Sports: Choices for All Ages (Copyright © Mayo Foundation) – This fact sheet helps you choose kids' sports and other kid-friendly physical activities according to your child’s age.
   
   http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/fitness/SM00057/
5. Fitness for Kids: Getting Your Children Off the Couch (Copyright © Mayo Foundation) – It's never too late to get your kids off the couch! Use these simple tips to give your kids a lifelong appreciation for activities that strengthen their bodies.
   
   http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/fitness/FL00030/
6. Helping Your Child: Tips for Parents – This website encourages you to take an active role in helping your child — and your families — learn healthy eating and physical activity habits.
   
   http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/child.htm
7. Lifetime Sports: Parental Roles in Facilitating and Supporting an Active Lifestyle for a Child with a Disability (Copyright © National Center on Physical Activity and Disability) – This publication helps parents of children with disabilities understand how to foster a positive attitude, communicate, select activities, and set goals in order to support physical activity in their children.
   
   http://www.ncpad.org/lifetime/fact_sheet.php%3Fsheet%3D450%26view%3Dall
8.   Make Physical Activity Fun! – This fact sheet encourages your family to increase daily physical activity and have fun at the same time. It also gives parents suggestions on how your family can add more active time to a busy schedule.
   
   http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/downloads/tip_physical_activity.pdf
9. Start with a Strong, Active Family (Copyright © Alliance for a Healthier Generation) – There are countless ways that families can have fun and get physically active. This website gives tips to help build an active family.
   
   http://www.healthiergeneration.org/parents.aspx%3Fid%3D3307

Organizations

1. Alliance for a Healthier Generation
   
   http://www.healthiergeneration.org/
2. American Heart Association
   
   http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
3. Center for Young Women's Health
   
   http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS
   
   http://www.cdc.gov/
5. Division of Adolescent and School Health, CDC
   
   http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/about/index.htm
6. Girls on the Run International
   
   http://www.girlsontherun.org/default.html
7. President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition
   
   http://fitness.gov/
8. Safe Routes to School National Partnership
   
   http://www.saferoutespartnership.org/home
9. Smallstep Kids
   
   http://www.smallstep.gov/kids/flash/index.html
10. The President's Challenge
    
    http://www.presidentschallenge.org/
11. Weight-Control Information Network
    
    http://win.niddk.nih.gov/index.htm

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Content last updated May 17, 2011

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