HOW disheartening it was to read the statistics released just last week from the annual report of the Children Society stating that young girls between the age of 10-15 are unhappy with their lives as a whole and their appearance in general.

The report outlines that 14 per cent are unhappy with their lives and 34 per cent with their appearance. The researchers were told by the girls of their feelings of being ugly and worthless. How on earth have we allowed this to happen what can we do to stop this?

Now, this may come as a surprise, but I am not going to cite sport tas the answer to this issue as the problem is much more complex than a one-stop solution. However, sport can play a part in offering a remedy and become part of the solution.

Pressure on young girls today comes from many sources and we need a joined-up approach to the solution. Girls are constantly bombarded with celebrity perfection through glossy magazines, websites and social media, however, they very rarely show the reality of the situation. In effect, this perpetual bombardment of alleged perfection, is giving girls unreal expectations of how they think they should look and behave.

They believe this is reality, and it then becomes a benchmark for them; one they cannot achieve. Add to that the daily advice handed out through glossy magazines, again by so-called experts — on diet, make-up, clothes etc — and you can begin to see how toxic the situation is.

Social media adds to this pressure. Don’t get me wrong here, great things can be achieved through social media, just look at how quickly the fund for Stephanie Inglis, the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist in judo, grew through the use of social media.

However, what I am eluding to here is the pressure to record every moment of their life and put it out for comment, good or bad, to their 500 ‘close friends’.

So many young people live their lives through social media, rather than experience it for themselves. We need to try to advise the younger generation, that social media is a tool to be used to enhance their social lives, not to replace the closeness of meeting good friends, getting outside and experiencing life and building long-lasting real relationships and memories.

The SWiS campaign Women Active at Work was created with a nod, as such, to this issue. We understand that very few young girls aspire to be a Laura Muir or Eilidh Doyle and those who do are more than likely currently in the system; given the poor coverage of women in sport, this is not surprising.

We do know that the best role models for young women are those that they can see on a daily basis, their mum, sister, aunt, etc. The campaign #womenactive has taken all this into consideration and looks at ways to encourage women to get into sport.

The benefits are not limited just to those who are in work, the campaign can offer something to all women who want to get active and fit, whether in work or not. Currently we are running a competition with Health Awards to win an Apple Watch or a fit-bug, both of which are great to record activity as it can become your own personal motivator. Visit: www.womenactiveatwork.co.uk — it’s great time to start.

It is the majority of young girls who are not participating in sport that we need to connect with and work with to eradicate the thought that they have to make a choice. Joined-up thinking is needed from the many agencies across Scotland who have a stake in our young people’s future.

But as always we start with home life; let’s get families together, active and participating in sport; that to me would be the best starting point. So let’s stop judging and let’s stop labelling and we can then begin to show young girls the many benefits of sports participation, and how through this, they will feel much better about themselves.