All of us have seen it happen to girls in our own lives. Young girls once strong and full of resilience, somehow lose their very selves during adolescence and enter the second decade of their lives without the strength and confidence that got them there. While growing up these days is tough for everyone, the research tells us that girls experience adolescence differently than boys. While boys often become more aggressive, girls often turn inward and self-destruct. While boys often smoke to be rebellious, girls often do it to stay thin.
Young girls become less likely to engage in physical activity.
More likely to be depressed. More likely to attempt suicide. And more likely to have a negative body image. What we know is that all of these factors are related, that no one problem stands alone, and that girls with poor body images often have the riskiest attitudes about tobacco, drugs, and sex. And we know from surveys that more than half of nine year-olds have dieted.