Discovery Health :: HealthDay :: Building Self-Esteem One Lap at a Time

I have several friends and colleagues with teen age girls who are very active atheletes and very poised and confident...

Discovery Health :: HealthDay :: Building Self-Esteem One Lap at a Time: "SUNDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Hitting puberty can be like hitting a brick wall for a girl.

One day she's playing soccer and softball and hanging out with her girlfriends. The next day she can feel pressure to be pretty, thin, flirtatious and not too smart if she wants to be popular with boys.

How's a girl to navigate her way around this trap?

Molly Barker of Charlotte, N.C., thinks she's hit on a solid solution. She's the founder of Girls on the Run, an innovative program that prepares young girls for the pitfalls of puberty by combining a big dose of running with games, exercises and discussions designed to enhance a girl's self-esteem so she can enter her teens with confidence.

'I really believe that women struggle to remain true to themselves,' said Barker, a former Ironman triathlete with a master's degree in social work."