Val Bushey grew up playing sports with kids at a neighborhood playground in Chicago. Today, she says, the opportunity for carefree days on the playground isn’t so easy.

“Now, kids are stuck in their homes because it’s not safe anymore,” says Bushey, the project leader for GoGirlGo! Chicago—a satellite of the national nonprofit group, GoGirlGo!, which encourages young girls to become physically active and promotes better health and body image among girls.

GoGirlGo! is a program of the Women’s Sports Foundation, a group founded in 1974 by Chicago tennis legend Billie Jean King in an effort to advance the lives of women through sports and physical activity. The organization specifically targets young girls whose socioeconomic backgrounds make it difficult to afford sports equipment and actively participate in sports, in an effort to get 1,000,000 inactive girls nationwide active.

The Chicago branch is one of two GoGirlGo! chapters nationwide; the other is located in Atlanta. Both offer a free education and awareness program, as well as a mentorship system that pairs young girls with high school athletes or active adults within the community.

The organization is reaching out to young girls at a time when health risks from inactivity and overeating have reached a near crisis point. GoGirlGo!’s website states that nationally:

  • 1 in every 6 girls is obese or overweight;
  • 1 in 3 teens gets pregnant;
  • 1 in 4 girls in grades 9-12 currently smokes;
  • 1 in 3 adolescent girls will experience depression, anxiety or eating disorders;
  • 1 in 4 high school girls reports she does not like herself.

And according to the Women’s Sports Foundation, Chicago and Illinois girls rank worse than the national average on nine out of 14 health indicators including nutrition, teen pregnancy and sports team participation.