Girls Active Programme - Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership

Introduction
Girls Active is a physical activity programme
targeting teenage girls in schools in the northwest
region of Ireland 1 . This report is an evaluation of
the first two years of the programme. Its purpose
is to provide feedback to the support organisations
on the extent to which Girls Active has achieved
its aims and objectives. In addition, the report
provides information that may be useful to those
who are interested in developing physical activities
for teenage girls. It will also assist future policy
development for physical activity in schools.
Section 1 of the report provides information on
the background and origins of the Girls Active
programme. Section 2 presents more detailed data
on the implementation and characteristics of the
programme. Section 3 describes the methodology
utilised in the evaluation. The findings are outlined
in Section 4 and discussed in Section 5. The
recommendations arising from the findings are
presented in Section 6.
1.1 Context
Research in Ireland and other countries indicates
that girls and women are underrepresented at
many levels of sport. Females of all ages participate
in sport and recreational activity less than boys
and men do, are relatively absent from media
portrayals of sporting achievements and are poorly
represented at decision-making levels 2 .
Not only are teenage girls less physically active than
boys, many of them engage in very little physical
activity. A recent Irish study reported that over onefifth
of secondary school girls engage in non-PE
(Physical Education) sports on less than one day
per week, twice as many as boys 3 . As habits in
relation to physical activity are developed at an
early stage and tend to be reproduced throughout
later life, it is not surprising to find that adult women
also engage in sport to a lesser extent than men.
Recently published figures in an Irish context
indicate that 25% of women participate in sport
regularly compared to 41% of men 4 . This relative
inactivity has negative consequences for the lifelong
health of girls and women. The benefits of regular
physical activity include a feeling of wellbeing and
a reduced risk of obesity, heart disease, some
cancers, osteoporosis and depression 5,6 .
Girls Active is a joint initiative between the Health
Service Executive West (HSE West, formerly the
North Western Health Board), Sligo Sport and
Recreation Partnership (SSRP), Donegal Sports
Partnership (DSP) and Youth Sport West (YSW).
The programme aims to increase the number of
teenage girls involved in long-term regular physical
activity through developing more supportive
environments in schools. Girls Active commenced
in 2003.
1.2 Background
The Girls Active Programme was developed
in response to numerous strategic initiatives in
the areas of health and sport. The publication of
The National Health Promotion Strategy 2000-
2005 7 , the National Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes
and Nutrition 8 and the National Cardiovascular
Strategy 9 were central in this regard. Both the
National Health Promotion Strategy and the
National Cardiovascular Strategy target teenage
girls as a priority group for the promotion of
healthy lifestyle choices. The former highlights the
need to “identify models of good practice which
encourage young people, especially young girls, to
participate in physical activity”. The Strategy also
identifies schools as appropriate settings for the
implementation of health education programmes
by presenting the concept of the “health promoting
school” as a place that is “constantly strengthening
its capacity as a healthy setting for living, learning
and working” 10 .
Under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness
the Irish Sports Council (ISC) set up the first
Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) in 2001. These
were initiated to create a national structure to coordinate
and promote the development of sport
at local level particularly in disadvantaged areas.
In recognition of the growing awareness of the
Evaluation of the Girls Active Programme - 2003 – 2005 Report 3