Image courtesy of 4girls.gov

The www.4girls.gov web site, developed by the Office on Women’s Health in the Department of Health and Human Services gives girls between the ages of 10 and 16 reliable, current health information. The site focuses on many health topics that respond to adolescent girls’ health concerns and motivates girls to choose healthy behaviors using positive, supportive and non-threatening messages. Topics covered include:

Becoming a Woman, a section about puberty that covers everything from growth, body hair, getting a menstrual period, grooming, douching, breath, and acne, to hair care and tanning.

Another section, Fit for Life, stresses that being fit means more than only how you look. It covers how much exercise a girl needs, strength training, making a fitness plan, sports for teens with disabilities, and sports injury and safety.

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.

A Mind Over Matters section talks about relieving stress in healthy ways, stress reduction techniques, stress and illness, depression, self-injury, and teen suicide prevention.

Another section, Choosing Not To Use, gives a background on what different forms of substance abuse do to a girl’s body, helpful ways to prevent using, and how to help others who are addicted to drugs, alcohol or tobacco.

The last major section, Putting It All Together, lets teen girls know that life can be beautiful when you can put everything you juggle in life all together with balance. It covers handling different relationships, family, friends, accepting who you are, having a positive body image, peer pressure, protecting yourself from violence, and looking towards the future with hope and dreams.

Back to Women's Health

Top