CYP Now - Policy & Practice: Why we must recognise it's different for girls

Girl power may have hit the headlines in recent years but there is still a case for targeted support for girls in their community, and it is in the poorest areas that support is often needed the most. The promotion of self-esteem is paramount for childhood. It is as children that we determine how we feel about ourselves as adults - with low self-esteem in children often associated with ill-health, obesity, low ambition and lack of achievement in adulthood.

While self-esteem issues are synonymous with growing up for boys and girls, the rapidly rising numbers of young girls attempting suicide and self-harm (both more common among girls than boys) is a strong signal that some issues need to be addressed in a subtler and more gender-specific way. It goes without saying that girls face different pressures compared to boys. It's a dangerous cycle of cause and consequence that can see girls and young women inflicting serious harm on themselves - often exhibited in the relationship girls have with food as they grow up. While a fifth of boys will be obese by 2020, with girls the figure is a third. On the flip side, research shows girls as young as five are now weight-conscious and prone to dieting.

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