Girls at secondary schools in Ireland are not as interested in sport as boys, a report is expected to reveal.

According to the Irish Times, a study published by the Irish Sports Council to be released in the autumn is likely to show that there is significant difference between interest in sports shown by girls and boys.

Fiona Coyne, participation manager with the Irish Sports Council, told the newspaper: "The gap starts off in primary school but it would not be hugely significant".

However, she noted that during secondary school there begins to be a "large gap between boys and girls".

Ms Coyne attributed this division to a number of factors, including the type of sports offered, girls being self-conscious about their bodies and the pressure of study.

The importance of getting girls into sports at a young age was highlighted after the NHS Information Centre released its statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet for England earlier this year.

In the findings it was shown that 15.2 per cent of girls aged between two and 15 were obese - a rise from 12.2 per cent since 1995.

Posted by Donal Walsh 

Comments