Help girls listen to their bodies

Real talk

By listening to and learning from their bodies, girls are more likely to accept and appreciate what they can do and experience—keeping in tune with what their bodies need when playing sport. Let's help them stay in the game.

Last updated: 5 December 2023
4 min read
Help girls listen to their body

For girls, the joy of sport should stem from their experience, not their appearance. It's common for girls to be preoccupied with and worry about their appearance. This can manifest in ways such as: comparing themselves to others, talking negatively, positively or too much about their appearance, or avoiding certain activities for fear of being judged. By encouraging girls to appreciate, respect and listen to their bodies—their capabilities, limitations and unique traits—we can all promote body confidence and enhance their sporting experience.

There are a number of reasons why girls may not listen to their bodies. For example, they may ignore feelings of hunger and skip a meal because they're worried about their weight, or they may push through an injury because they're worried about missing a game. Teammates, coaches and parents can also unknowingly encourage girls to ignore what their bodies need. After all, how many girls have been told they're being dramatic? We have to normalise and prioritise girls listening to their bodies and participating in sport in a way that's right for them.

Help girls listen to their body

To help with this, we're going to introduce you to the Three-Step Sense Check. This is a useful tool for coaches and parents to use with girls and can be used anywhere, at any time. It's a simple system to help athletes check in with what their bodies need. Take her through the following steps and see how she comes to connect with, and trust, her body.

By embracing these checks, we show girls that we prioritise how they're feeling and trust that they know best. Let's create a generation of athletes who are connected with, care for and respect their bodies.

Body Confident Sport is a programme developed by Nike and Dove to help girls build body confidence and make sport a place where girls feel like they belong. The content has been designed in partnership with the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport and the Centre for Appearance Research.

For a full overview of the resources, please visit:

www.bodyconfidentsport.com

Help girls listen to their body

Originally published: 30 November 2023

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