I’m going to go a little off-topic today for a moment, but I promise to come back before I’m done. Girls, on the whole, are less likely than boys to meet the recommended daily targets for exercise. Add in school uniforms and, according to a study from University of Cambridge, that gap tends to get bigger. The study is not definitive enough to imply causation, but there is a correlation.
On some level, this seems like a bulletin from Captain Obvious. Of course girls are less likely to run around doing all the things when they’re in dresses or skirts. That kind of clothing just increases the societal pressure to be “ladylike” instead of active. However, documenting the potential effects of what girls wear is a good first step in changing things up so that we raise our girls to be at least as healthy and active as our boys. (Note: not all boys are hitting the activity targets, either. We have work to do to build healthy bodies for all our children.)
I am, by virtue of my occupation, allowed to wear play clothes most of the time. I don’t think twice about lugging stuff around or needing to walk a fair amount or getting down on the floor. On the rare occasions when I get dressed up, I notice how much harder it is to do the activities of daily life. What if we were all free to move on a regular basis? How would life transform?
Let’s advocate for comfy clothes for everyone.
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