All these factors combine to make regular physical activity and other healthy lifestyles unattractive options for many adolescents. In addition, as noted above, some reports suggest that the decline in habitual physical activity during the teen years is more exaggerated in girls. These data imply that adolescence may be a particularly high risk period for developing sedentary habits in females. Females face social pressures that have historically linked physical prowess and athleticism to maleness, and gender differences in activity have traditionally been accounted for by perceptions that femininity is not consistent with vigorous activity and sports play. While significant progress in dispelling this concept has occurred, detrimental ideas concerning gender-appropriateness in sports play and physical activity persist.
Social issues continue to act as important impediments to involvement in exercise by girls.
In adolescence these influences are compounded by the burgeoning sexuality at puberty and strong desire for attractiveness to the opposite sex. In males, sexual desirability is often linked to physical capabilities in sports participation and physical activity. In females, on the other hand, attractiveness is focused on physical features, often perceived as incompatible with vigorous physical activity. Inevitable changes in body composition at the time of puberty may also work to the adolescent female's disfavor. Rising estrogen levels in the early teen years promote an increase in body fat in females, while the androgenic influences of puberty augment muscle mass in males.