Six in 10 girls quit activities they love because of how they feel about their looks

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Apr 09, 2013, 16:50 ET

TORONTO, April 9, 2013 /CNW/ - Six in 10 girls have quit sports and activities that can play a major role in their future development, because of how they felt about their looks.

This finding from 2010 Dove research with girls ages 10-17, combined with new Dove research released today, suggest that, when girls quit or avoid sports and other activities because of poor body image, they could be missing out on valuable benefits that can stay with them for a lifetime.

Sports and activities help make girls unstoppable

New 2013 Dove research, conducted by Ipsos with Canadian girls ages 11-17, suggests that participation in sports and activities can play an important role in girls' development. Nine in 10 Canadian girls say these activities help them learn new things, create new friendships, build self-confidence and feel better about themselves.

Girls Unstoppable campaign launch

To help prevent girls from giving up on sports and activities that can help them realize their full potential, Dove has launched a new campaign called Girls Unstoppable to help spark conversations between moms and mentors and girls on body image issues, before it's too late.

The campaign kicked off today with the unveiling of two 3D billboards in downtown Toronto. The billboards dramatically highlight the potential impact of body image on girls' participation in soccer and swimming, which, according to the new Dove research, are among girls' five most popular activities, along with school events, music lessons and dance/dance lessons.

Girls look to moms and mentors

The new Dove research found that girls believe moms and mentors have a powerful role to play in shaping how they feel about themselves and encouraging them to pursue new interests:

93% of girls say moms/mentors can help encourage them to take part in current or new activities and interests; and
90% of girls say moms/mentors can help them feel more comfortable with their body

"Women across Canada have more power than they realize to shape a positive future for the girls in their lives," says Sharon MacLeod Dove V.P. of Marketing. "We want to help them realize that girls want them to play this role and to empower them by giving them the tools to start this dialogue today."

Starting the dialogue with girls

Dove is encouraging moms and mentors to initiate conversations with girls about body image and other issues with the help of tools they can download at www.dove.ca/en/Social-Mission/Self-Esteem-Resources/default.aspx. To learn more about how we can make girls unstoppable visit www.Facebook.com/Dove.

Dove is also inviting girls and women across Canada to share their own unstoppable stories through their social networks using the hashtag #girlsunstoppable to encourage girls to pursue the activities they love.

About the surveys

The findings featured in this release are based on two separate studies:

A 2010 Dove Real Truth About Beauty survey conducted by StrategyOne with more than 1,200 girls ages 10-17 in the United States, Canada, UK, Germany, Brazil and Russia.

A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted between March 28 and April 4, 2013. For this survey, a sample of 807 Canadian girls, ages 11-17 from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. The poll is accurate to within +/- 3.9 percentage points had all Canadian girls, ages 11-17, been surveyed.

Image with caption: "Dove has launched a new campaign called Girls Unstoppable to encourage moms to talk to girls about body image issues. The campaign kicked off today with the unveiling of two 3D billboards in downtown Toronto. (Photo by Phil Cheung) (CNW Group/Dove Self-Esteem Fund)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130409_C3953_PHOTO_EN_25361.jpg

SOURCE: Dove Self-Esteem Fund