Jockettes: Thinner, Educated and Employed

Knock off the jockette jokes, the joke's on you later. From increased education and employment to less obesity, girl jocks rock as life unfolds. New research reported by The New York Times reveals girls participating in team sports reap a myriad of benefits later.

A new state-by-state statistical analysis proves those stellar results can't be explained away by super-achievers simply being attracted to sports. Forget the chicken or the egg -- team sports have a deep and lasting impact on girls. "It's not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life," Dr. Betsey Stevenson, economist at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, told The New York Times.

Stevenson focused on effects of sports participation since Title IX, an education amendment adopted in 1972 requiring federally-funded schools and colleges to provide equal sporting opportunities for girls and boys. Title IX exploded the number of girls playing team sports. In a mere six years after adoption, 25 percent of girls were in the game compared to only 4 percent before. Using a complex analysis to tease out the effects of sports participation from other influencers -- such as school size, climate and social/personal differences of athletes -- Stevenson reports Title IX changes explained about 20 percent of the increase in women's education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women.

Education, money and job security are important but former jockettes are thinner, too. Economist Robert Kaestner just published a new study revealing increasing girls' sports participation since Title IX was associated with a 7 percent lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later post high-school.

Still, even if carrying the jockette label is more socially acceptable today, only one in three high school girls play sports, compared with 50 percent of boys. Considering the overwhelming dividends team sports are associated with -- lower teen pregnancy, higher grades and self-esteem, and improved forecast into adulthood -- we need to steer more girls into their game of choice.

Don't forget about young moms, either. Motherhood tends to strip away any chance for a Thursday night volleyball league. But if dads are getting out for late night hockey, then moms should make team play a priority, too. Beyond aerobics and yoga class, make 2010 the year you're going to join a women's sports team in your area. Join a tennis league, hang out at the softball fields and score a spot on a women's team or put the pick-up basketball gym time on your calendar.

Besides, team sports is another way to avoid plugging in for another workout.