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HHS´s Office on Women´s
Health launches www.4girls.gov to encourage adolescent
girls to choose healthy behaviors
August 1, 2002
HHS Launches New Health Web Site for Girls
CONTACT: Sharon Ricks 202/690-7651
WASHINGTON, D.C. –– The Department
of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health
(OWH) has launched a new health Web site, www.4girls.gov,
to encourage adolescent girls to choose healthy behaviors.
The site, part of HHS' National Women's Health Information
Center, provides girls ages 12-16 with information on
fitness, nutrition, stress management, relationships
with friends and family, peer pressure, suicide, drugs,
self-esteem, and other topics in an interactive, user-friendly
format. The launch is part of the ongoing Prevention
Initiative recently announced by HHS Secretary Tommy
G. Thompson. The announcement was made at the HHS Young
Women's Health Summit being held in Washington D.C.
"Girls make important choices about
lifestyle behaviors during adolescence that can influence
their health and well-being throughout adulthood," said
Dr. Eve Slater, Assistant Secretary for Health.
"This Web site provides girls with the tools to begin
taking responsibility for their physical, mental, environmental,
and social health by providing them with information
in the language they understand."
The 4girls Web site includes six sections:
- Becoming a Woman answers the questions girls
might be afraid to ask about changes to their bodies,
the menstrual cycle, and grooming and hygiene. From
breast growth and body hair to acne and hair care
tips, this section addresses the issues that concern
girls the most as they approach and transition into
puberty.
- Fit for Life provides girls with the tools
to develop an exercise plan that is enjoyable, safe,
and long-lasting. Highlights include an online fitness
questionnaire, tips on strength training, information
on avoiding exercise-related injuries, and advice
on how to keep exercise interesting.
- You Are What You Eat helps girls make healthy
food choices by providing important nutrition information
on serving sizes, vitamins and nutrients, reading
food labels, eating out, maintaining a healthy weight,
and vegetarianism.
- Mind over Matters discusses different sources
of stress for girls and describes some healthy ways
to cope. This section also includes a Q &
A section on related topics such as self-injury and
teen suicide.
- Choosing Not to Use presents the hard facts
about tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse in a user-friendly
question and answer format.
- Putting It All Together focuses on the physical,
mental, and social health of girls by addressing stress
management, relationships with family and friends,
self esteem, body image, peer pressure, self protection,
and planning for the future.
The site also features a Parent/Caregiver
section that provides lists of publications, organizations,
and Web sites they can use to help address the issues
that face adolescent girls.
The launch of www.4girls.gov
is part of the OWH Girls' and Adolescent Health initiative.
Other projects developed in this initiative include
the BodyWise Eating Disorders Educational Campaign and
the Get Real! Video Kit on health issues for college-aged
women. OWH is also involved in the Girlpower! and National
Bone Health campaigns with other federal agencies.
The theme of this year's National
Young Women's Health Summit is "Parents as Partners"
to focus on intergenerational communication to help
girls make positive health choices. More than 150 summit
participants between the ages of 12 and 17 will receive
leadership training, community action skills and health
information. They are being joined by their parents
as well as specially trained mentors who will attend
workshops on how to support young women as they are
faced with the difficult decisions of adolescence. Girls
who participated in previous summits contributed to
the content of www.4girls.gov.
"Our focus is on women's health across
the lifespan," said Wanda Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Health (Women's Health), U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. "Projects such as the 4girls.gov
Web site and the Young Women's Health Summit help us
teach adolescent girls about healthy behaviors that
should last a lifetime."
The new site can also be accessed
through its own address, www.4girls.gov.
Information on the Young Women's Health Summit can be
found on the home page of the National Women's Health
Information Center, www.4woman.gov,
or by calling 1-800-994-WOMAN (TDD: 1-888-2205-446).
HHS' Office on Women's Health coordinates
women's health activities, programs and outreach throughout
the federal government and through public-private partnerships.
President Bush's fiscal year 2003 budget proposal includes
a $29.1 million for OWH, an increase of $2.1 million
from the current year's budget. The higher budget
is in addition to increases for women's health in other
HHS agencies and programs, including $4 billion for
National Institutes of Health research on women's health.
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