Click name to view affiliation
Research reports released almost every day extol the healthful physical and mental benefits of physical activity. Many women, however, fail to participate in physical activities because of reasons that relate to personal, social, and organizational constraints. Understanding what to do to help women enhance their physical activity involvement must be considered by many people. Change in directions that will add quality to women’s lives will not happen without consciously directed effort on the part of individuals, as well as institutions, within society. A basic assumption underlying this paper is that physical activity possesses the components of leisure when it is freely chosen and found enjoyable. Therefore, I propose that change needs to occur within society, among individuals, and by activity providers if opportunities for enjoyable and beneficial physical involvement are to be enhanced for girls and women.