This includes, but is not limited to: exposure to different sports (i.e. pickleball, volleyball, bodyweight fitness, ultimate frisbee, etc.) and activities (walking for health, dance, yoga, yard games etc.), social-emotional lessons about wellness behaviors (i.e. mental health, overcoming challenges, building confidence, exercise and hair, etc.), meeting of UNCG female athletes, and fostering relationships with girls from various backgrounds. Active Girls – Healthy Girls isn’t stopping there. The camp is designed to give us insight and feedback on what works, what warrants improvement, and what needs the community has before launching this into a full-on Summer camp. Since this program is designed with the community in mind, we are getting our community involved. UNCG athletes, staff, and students alike will partake in the planning, training, research, and camp activities themselves. Our team is passionate about providing an environment where learning and exercise can coexist, and not come at the cost of the other. We also know that for young girls, it is essential to have representation involved in these programs that matters. If you can see it, you can be it.

To follow is just a glimpse of the concerning data that motivates this program and our vision to “inspire girls and women to lead healthy, active lifestyles, and reach their full potential for mental and physical health and well-being”:

• Cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes are the 2nd, 4th, and 7th leading causes of death in North Carolina. This disease burden is strongly tied to physical inactivity and obesity;
• PA is also strongly associated with mental health. There is a bi-directional relation between depression and physical activity, with low levels of physical activity reported in depressed individuals.  Only 7% of depressed adults are sufficiently active compared to almost 60% of non-depressed adults, and studies suggest that almost 80% of individuals with depression fail to meet physical activity guidelines.
• We are particularly concerned with the adolescent female, where we see a significant decrease in physical activity with increasing age (41.9% of 6-11 year-olds and 15.3% of 12-17 year-olds report levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity that meet physical activity recommendations); and where high school females are 50% less likely than high school boys to participate in 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
• Females with disabilities or who are obese fall well below their peers in reported physical activity.
• Significant socio- economic disparity exists in sport participation – 24% of children from low-income households compared to 43% from high-income households engage in regular sport activity.
• The prevalence of meeting recommended screen time outside of school work (2 hours or less) has declined from 33% in 2015-16 to 20% in 2017-2018.

Data from Physical Activity Alliance 2022 Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Youth The National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS) was a part of the former American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, & Dance (AAHPERD), now the Society of Health and Physical Educators. When AAHERPD experienced structural and leadership changes in 2010, the leaders of NAGWS sought an outside entity to preserve the NAGWS legacy. In 2010, the Program for the Advancement for Girls and Women in Sport and Physical Activity (PAGWSPA) was established at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro in the Center for Women’s Health and Wellness (CWHW).