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ASICS tackles UK girls’ sports dropout crisis with revolutionary gym uniform redesign

The athletic brand calls it “The Undropped Kit.”

CREDIT: ASICS

Girls cheering.

When 64% of UK girls abandon sports before their 16th birthday, the ripple effects extend far beyond empty stadiums and playing fields. This staggering dropout rate represents more than a million teenage girls in the UK who will carry the physical and mental health consequences of inactivity into adulthood—and shockingly, one of the most overlooked culprits is something seemingly simple: what they’re required to wear.


- YouTube www.youtube.com

ASICS, in partnership with Inclusive Sportswear and mental health charity Mind, has revealed the “Undropped Kit,” a groundbreaking reimagination of school PE uniforms designed specifically with teenage girls’ comfort, confidence, and participation in mind. This shift represents more than just athletic wear or style; it addresses a public health crisis hiding in plain sight.


The hidden barrier: how PE kits become a participation killer

The numbers paint an anguished—and preventable—picture. Research commissioned by ASICS revealed that only 12% of UK girls are “completely satisfied” with their current school PE kit, while 70% of girls aged 14-16 said they would be more likely to participate in PE if their kit made them feel more comfortable. Perhaps most telling: only one in four girls aged 11-13 feels confident in their PE kit, a dramatic drop from 65% of girls aged 7-8.


girls, sports, gym, uniform, revolutionary Girl sitting by herself in the gym.CREDIT: ASICS

The specific complaints from girls show a clear picture of systematic design failures. As teenage participants in the research explained, "Our kit is itchy, see-through, and makes you really sweaty.” Others cited concerns about "period leaks showing," "baggy and shapeless" designs that "feel like they were made for boys," and the inability to adjust for different weather conditions or body types.

These aren't superficial concerns—they represent fundamental barriers to participation. The Youth Sport Trust's 2024 Girls Active survey found that 58% of girls want more PE kit options compared to just 29% of boys, highlighting how current uniform policies fail to address gender-specific needs.

Redesigning for real bodies, real concerns

The Undropped Kit represents a radical departure from traditional PE uniforms, incorporating features directly requested by teenage girls during extensive focus groups and testing at Burnley High School—specifically chosen because it's located in one of the UK regions with the lowest PE participation rates, according to Sport England.

The innovative design tackles each barrier systematically. For weather concerns, the kit includes a jacket with a detachable inner liner and padded panels for warmth retention, plus water-repellent fabric and a packable hood for wet conditions. To address comfort concerns, designers incorporated softer, darker, sweat-wicking fabrics that prevent visibility issues while providing better moisture management.


girls, sports, gym, uniform, revolutionary One of the revolutionary Undropped Kit outfits. CREDIT: ASICS

Perhaps most importantly, the kit addresses period-related anxieties—cited as the most significant barrier by 47% of girls aged 11-13 and 52% of girls aged 14-15. The solution includes dark-colored materials with discreet pockets for storing sanitary products, providing both practical storage and psychological comfort.

The versatility component centers on biker shorts as a base layer, which can be worn alone or paired with a detachable skirt or shorts for a stylistic choice between fitted and looser styles. This addresses the frequent complaint that current uniforms offer no accommodation for different body shapes or confidence levels. Small details matter too—the kit even includes an emergency hair tie built into the design.

The dropout crisis: more than just numbers

The scale of girls' disengagement from physical activity represents one of the most significant public health challenges of our time. By age 17-18, a whopping 55% of girls will have disengaged from sports entirely, with 43% of girls who classified themselves as sporty in primary school no longer identifying that way. This compares to just 24% of boys experiencing similar disengagement.


girls, sports, gym, uniform, revolutionary Girls warming up. CREDIT: ASICS

The timing is particularly devastating. Girls drop out at twice the rate of boys by age 14, precisely when the physical and mental health benefits of regular exercise become most crucial for development. The Youth Sport Trust's research reveals a significant decline in enjoyment: 86% of girls aged 7-8 enjoy PE, but this drops to just 56% among girls aged 14-15.

Globally, the crisis is even more stark: 85% of adolescent girls worldwide don't meet World Health Organization physical activity recommendations (an average of 60 minutes per day of moderate-to vigorous-intensity, mostly aerobic, physical activity, across the week), compared to 78% of boys. In England specifically, only 8% of girls are now classified as highly active, a dramatic decrease from 30% in 2017-18.

The intersection of puberty, body image concerns, and inadequate athletic wear creates a perfect storm: 50% of girls feel paralyzed by fear of failure during puberty, while 42% of girls aged 14-16 say their period stops them from taking part in PE. When combined with a kit that makes them feel exposed, uncomfortable, or "different," participation becomes psychologically untenable.

The broader societal stakes

The implications of mass female disengagement from physical activity extend far beyond individual health outcomes. Research from the Women's Sports Foundation demonstrates that girls who play sports experience 1.5 to 2.5 times fewer mental health disorders than girls who never played. Specifically, only 17% of girls who play sports experience moderate to high levels of depression, compared to 29% for girls who never played.


girls, sports, gym, uniform, revolutionary Girls wearing the Undropped Kit.CREDIT: ASICS

The protective effects are comprehensive. Sports participation provides 1.5 times higher scores for peer relationships and 1.5 times higher reported levels of meaning and purpose. These benefits extend across racial, economic, and disability lines, suggesting that sports access could serve as a powerful equalizer during critical developmental years.

The economic implications are equally significant. When girls abandon physical activity during adolescence, they're more likely to develop chronic health conditions, experience mental health challenges, and miss out on the leadership and teamwork skills that sports uniquely provide. Girls active in sports during adolescence and young adulthood are 20% less likely to get breast cancer later in life, while also showing improved academic performance and career outcomes, research shows.

Beyond the kit: systemic change

While the Undropped Kit represents an innovative solution to a specific barrier, ASICS and its partners recognize that sustainable change requires broader systemic intervention. The initiative includes the Inclusive Sportswear Community Platform, which provides schools, teachers, and parents with free access to expert training, toolkits, and guidance developed with the Youth Sport Trust.

The platform advocates for inclusive PE kit policies that prioritize choice and comfort over uniformity. As Tess Howard, founder of Inclusive Sportswear and Team Great Britain hockey player, explains: "A PE kit is the most underrated reason girls drop out of PE, but the good news is we can fix it—and fast. By listening to girls and evolving [sports] kits to support their needs, we can lift this barrier.”


girls, sports, gym, uniform, revolutionary Girls wearing the Undropped Kit. CREDIT: ASICS

The Undropped Kit prototype serves as both a practical solution and a powerful statement: that girls' comfort, confidence, and participation matter enough to reimagine fundamental assumptions about school uniforms completely. While the kit itself isn't available for commercial purchase, its impact lies in demonstrating what becomes possible when design truly centers user needs.

The crisis of girls dropping out of sports isn't inevitable. It's the result of systems, policies, and products that weren't designed with their needs in mind. ASICS' Undropped Kit proves that when we genuinely listen to girls and design for their experiences, we can begin to reverse decades of exclusion and build a generation of confident, active young women.

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Gen Zer asks Gen X how they got around without GPS and the replies are pure nostalgia

If you said 'Mapquest' you don't know the half of it.

Photo credit: Canva
Gen Zer asks how people got around without GPS, Gen X responds

It's easy to forget what life was like before cell phones fit in your pocket and Google could tell you the meaning of life in less than .2 seconds. Gen Z is the first generation to be born after technology began to move faster than most people can blink. They never had to deal with the slow speeds and loud noises of dial up internet.

In fact, most people that fall in the Gen Z category have no idea that their parents burned music on a CD thinking that was peak mix tape technology. Oh, how wrong they were. Now songs live in a cloud but somehow come out of your phone without having to purchase the entire album or wait until the radio station plays the song so you can record it.

But Gen Z has never lived that struggle so the idea of things they consider to be basic parts of life not existing are baffling to them.

One self professed Gen Zer, a woman named Aneisha, took to social media to ask a question that has been burning on her mind–how did people travel before GPS?


driving, maps, GPS, google, google maps, mapquest, millennials, gen z People used to have actual maps in their cars. Photo by Tabea Schimpf on Unsplash

Now, if you're older than Gen Z–whose oldest members are just 27 years old–then you likely know the answer to the young whippersnapper's question. But even some Millennials had trouble answering Aneisha's question.

Aneisha asks in her video, "Okay, serious question. How did people get around before the GPS? Like, did you guys actually pull a map and like draw lines to your destination? But then how does that work when you're driving by yourself, trying to hold up the map and drive? I know it's Gen Z of me but I kind of want to know."

Watch Aneisha pose the adorably sincere question here:

@aneishaaaaaaaaaaa

I hope this reaches the right people, i want to know

Even when most Millennials were starting to drive, they had some form of internet to download turn-by-turn directions, so it makes sense that the cohort between Gen Z and Gen X would direct Aneisha to Mapquest — a primitive early ancestor of Google Maps.

"we'd have to print step by step directions from MapQuest and hope for the best" one commenter wrote.

It's true, you're not really a millennial if you've never driven around with a stack of loose Mapquest pages floating around your car. If you were lucky, you had a passenger to read them off to you. "Drive half a mile and turn left on Elm Street!" It was a stressful time, for sure. God help you if the pages got mixed up or if you went off track somewhere. Even with a printed map and directions there was no guidance for finding your way back to the proper route.

We used to literally chart out long road trips on a physical map before departing.Giphy

But there was a time before imaginary tiny pirates lived inside of computer screens to point you in the right direction and tales from those times are reserved for Gen X.

Mapquest, by some standards, was an incredible luxury made possible by the internet. So the generation known for practically raising themselves chimed in, not only to sarcastically tell Millennials to sit down but to set the record straight on what travel was like before the invention of the internet. Someone clearly unamused by younger folks' suggestion shares, "The people saying mapquest. There was a time before the internet kids."

Others are a little more helpful, like one person who writes, "You mentally note landmarks, intersections. Pretty easy actually," they continue. "stop at a gas station, open map in the store, ($4.99), put it back (free)."

"Believe it or not, yes we did use maps back then. We look at it before we leave, then take small glances to see what exits to take," someone says, which leaves Aneisha in disbelief, replying, "That's crazyy, I can't even read a map."

It's a good idea to keep a local map in your car, even today! In case of emergency, you never know when it might come in handy. Learning how to read it, however, might take a little time for folks who didn't grow up using non-digital maps. (Many young people are confident in their ability to read maps based on their heavy GPS usage, but something tells me those skills won't translate to the big according-style paper maps.)

Some users added that you could often call your destination (or friend or family member) and write down careful directions before you left. If you've ever visited a venue or business' website and seen general directions depending on which direction you're traveling from, you get the idea.

"Pulled over and asked the guy at the gas station," one person writes as another chimes in under the comment, "and then ask the guy down the street to make sure you told me right."

Imagine being a gas station attendant in the 90s while also being directionally challenged. Was that part of the hiring process, memorizing directions for when customers came in angry or crying because they were lost? Not knowing where you were going before the invention of the internet was also a bit of a brain exercise laced with exposure therapy for those with anxiety. There were no cell phones so if you were lost no one who cared about you would know until you could find a payphone to check in. Imagine that!

The world is so overly connected today that the idea of not being able to simply share your location with loved ones and "Ask Siri" when you've gotten turned around on your route seems dystopian.


google maps, gps, driving, wildfires, maps, gen x, gen z Google Maps shows crucial information about natural disasters like wildfiresGiphy

But in actuality, if you took a few teens from 1993 and plopped them into 2024 they'd think they were living inside of a sci-fi movie awaiting aliens to invade.

Technology has made our lives infinitely easier and nearly unrecognizable from the future most could've imagined before the year 2000, so it's not Gen Z's fault that they're unaware of how the "before times" were. They're simply a product of their generation.

Some would say that having a rough geographical understanding of your local area, aka being able to navigate around without GPS, is a lost art that kept our brains and wits sharper. On the other hand, using Google Maps even for simple trips to everyday stops helps us avoid accidents and traffic and give people our near-exact ETA. It also delivers crucial real-time information about wildfires, natural disasters, and more. Who's to say if one way is really better or worse?

This article originally appeared one year ago.

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Video unearths Gerber's failed 1970s campaign to sell 'baby food for adults' to lonely Boomers

"Something to eat when you're alone." 👀

Photo by Léo Gilmant, Wikimedia

Would you eat "baby food for adults?"

Brands are constantly adapting to our ever-changing world in an effort to stay relevant and viable and, ultimately, make their bottom line. However, sometimes these attempts at gettin’ with the times are so out of touch they miss the mark completely. We call these instances marketing fails.

One such marketing fail happened in 1974, when Gerber—the brand synonymous with baby food—tried, and failed, to rebrand itself as a food for college kids.

As explained by Max Miller of Tasting History, in a short but sweet video (though maybe not as sweet as Gerber’s puréed mango-apple-banana flavor), the ‘70s saw a dramatic decline in marriages and births following the Baby Boom between 1946 and 1964. Less babies, of course, meant less need for baby food, and Gerber was looking for ways to combat a slump in its sales.

Their solution? Rebrand their product as something for college kids.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Using the logic of “We were good for you then. We’re good for you now,” Gerber rolled out full meals like "Beef Burgundy," "Mediterranean Vegetables," "Ham Casserole," "Creamed Beef," and even "Sweet and Sour Pork” placed in the exact same jars used to contain infant food.

Though the idea itself might have been sound—convenient, all-in-one meals? What busy single person doesn't want that?— the biggest flaw was in the execution. Depressing, or condescending taglines like "Something to eat when you're alone" and "Look at you! All grown up!" didn’t exactly endear young folks to drown out their loneliness with a savory, lukewarm meat mush.

gerber baby food, baby food, marketing fail, commercial, vintage commercials, tasting history, max miller Who doesn't wanna eat beef burgundy right out of the can?Wikimedia

All in all, the failed product went off the shelves within only a few months of its launch. As many viewers pointed out, this very well could have been an idea too ahead of its time, because in today’s fitness-centric world, it could have been a hot ticket item.

“There's a market for meal replacements, both for people with finite time and health buffs,” one person noted.

Another echoed, “Honestly, just put it in a squeeze pack and market it for fitness and those sales will soar.”

Others brought up the fact that the elderly, sick, or, as one person put it it, “the Soylent crowd who hate how the subsistence of their physical body interferes with the grindset,” could have easily bought into the product. But cool college kids? Not so much.

Still, this probably doesn’t go down in history as the most out of touch market schemes. Certainly not in comparison to the infamous Kendall Jenner Pepsi Ad from 2017.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Or the short-lived Dove Facebook Ad, also from 2017, where a Black woman takes off her shirt to reveal a white woman standing in her place. The idea was to imply that the product was for all women. The interpretation was that it promotes white ideals of beauty. Whoops.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Or when the American Dairy Association made a translation blunder with their “Got Milk?” campaign, when it wrote “Tienes leche?” for its Spanish-speaking audience. This literally translates to “Are you lactating?”

You could also put the recent Sydney Sweeny American Eagle blue jeans ad in this category. The highly controversial commercial might have boosted web site traffic, but sales? Not so much, according to sites like Adweek and Retail Brew.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Bottom line: brands ultimately aim to serve themselves, and they do so by trying to tap into the potential emotional triggers of their customer base. We know this, but, let’s face it, even the most scrutinous among us might be swayed by the clever or heartfelt story told in an ad. When they majorly faceplant, however, it’s a lot easier to see their true intentions and a good reminder to take it all with a grain of salt.

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Shopaholics are trying the '30/30 Rule' to spend less, and it’s working like magic

“I created a rule that helps me avoid unnecessary spending.”

Photo credit: Canva

Make delayed gratification a habit, not a chore.

There are two types of people in this world: people who impulse buy and people with superhuman willpower.

Does this sound familiar? You’re tapping through Instagram stories, and it appears. A cropped t-shirt starring Hello Kitty as a teeny, kitten-sized tomato, ripe and still on the vine. It’s the crop top of your dreams.

Or is it? Perhaps the fact that it’s currently 2 a.m. and the melatonin you took 15 minutes ago is starting to whisper things like “Buy it,” or “You need that shirt,” to you—not kismet.

(Spoiler alert: it’s the latter.)


shirt, impulse buy, decision making, shopping, hello kitty You must resist the urge to impulse buy. Credit: www.sanrio.com

Here’s the thing: 84% of us have been there. We’ve all made purchases that seemed brilliant at midnight and embarrassing by morning. In fact, 40% of all e-commerce spending comes from spontaneous snap purchases.

But what if I told you that buyer’s remorse, or impulse buying, could be eliminated with a single rule that requires zero brain power?

Say hello to the 30/30 rule, a surprisingly simple technique that’s helping millions of people break the impulse-buying cycle and mend their relationship with money.

Meet the guys who figured it out

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus were your classic American success disasters. After enduring tough childhoods—each scarred by an unstable home life and substance abuse—they climbed up the corporate ladder, and at just 28, had made it.

Millburn became the youngest director in his company’s 140-year history, expertly managing 150 retail stores. Meanwhile, Nicodermus thrived in sales and marketing. With substantial six-figure salaries, they indulged their every whim, fancy, and desire. Luxury cars, designer wardrobes, flashy watches that cost more than most single-family homes. This was the life, right?

Nope.

They were also miserable, drowning in debt, and working 80-hour weeks.

- YouTube Credit: www.youtube.com

The wake-up call came in 2009 when Millburn’s mom died of lung cancer and his marriage fell apart in the same month. While going through his mother’s house,, he donated everything instead of renting a storage unit for her belongings. He let go.

This was the moment that changed everything.

Nicodermus saw the profound changes Millburn experienced after finding minimalism, then started his own journey. Inspired by minimalist bloggers like Colin Wright, Leo Babauta, and Joshua Becker, the two launched The Minimalists.

At the time, the website provided them an outlet to document their transformation and give tips to people on how to live more intentionally. Since then, they’ve published bestselling books on minimalism, produced multiple Emmy-nominated Netflix documentaries, and built a worldwide community of millions of people seeking a way out of compulsive consumption.

The 30/30 rule (it’s delightfully simple)

Ready for this earth-shattering revelation? If something costs more than $30, wait 30 hours before buying it. If it’s over $100, wait 30 days.

Is that it?

Yep. No apps that track your spending, no complicated budgeting spreadsheets, no vision boards, or empty promises to yourself that you’ll “do better next time.”


shopping, man, impulse buying, decision making, purchasing A man who didn't use the 30/30 rule. Photo credit: Canva

Also called the “Wait for It Rule,” this deliberate delay creates space between the initial impulse to buy and the actual purchase.

“If something I want costs more than $30, I ask myself whether I can get by without it for the next 30 hours,” Millburn explains. “This extra time helps me assess whether or not this new thing will add value to my life.”

Of course, there are caveats. This rule only applies to non-essential items, including decorations, clothing, games, cosmetics, and gadgets. Groceries, cleaning supplies, and life requirements don’t count. Go ahead and buy that toilet paper.

Why it works, from a psychological standpoint

Here’s what is going on in your brain: 95% of purchase decisions happen subconsciously, often driven by emotional states rather than logical reasoning. It’s like that Ariana Grande song, “7 Rings.”

“I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it,” she sings.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

When we see something we want, our brain’s reward center (the limbic system) floods with dopamine before our logical brain even shows up to the party. How convenient.

“Early research suggests that stress exposure influences basic neural circuits involved in reward processing and learning while also biasing decisions towards habit and modulating our propensity to engage in risk-taking,” explains Anthony J. Porcelli and Mauricio R. Delagado in their landmark research paper, “Stress and Decision Making: Effects on Valuation, Learning, and Risk-taking.”

The 30/30 rule basically forces your brain to experience something it despises: delayed gratification. It’s the ability to resist immediate rewards for larger, long-term gratification. By not acting on impulse, your prefrontal cortex (the responsible adult part of your brain) has a moment to chat with the limbic system (the reward center, which is acting like an impulsive toddler with a credit card).

Whether it’s days or hours, a few important things happen during this wind-down period.

  • Emotional cooling, and the initial excitement fades.
  • Value assessment, in which you have the time to genuinely evaluate whether or not this item will add something meaningful to your life.
  • Pattern recognition, a.k.a. the “Aha!” moment. You recognize that the purchase was triggered by stress, boredom, or Instagram, and build greater self-awareness.

The bigger picture

No one is asking you to become a monk or live an ascetic life and own only three things—the 30/30 rule challenges you to buy with intention instead of impulse. The rule works because it creates space between wanting something and having it—space where you remember your actual priorities.

So, the next time you’re about to use Apple Pay to buy fake currency on a phone game, try this. Close the app. Set an alert for 30 hours from now. See what happens.

Most likely, you’ll realize that you never needed it all. And if you still want it after waiting? Woohoo! Go for it, buy it guilt-free knowing it was a choice, not a reaction.

The best purchases, it turns out, are often the ones we don’t make.

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