The 10 Worst States to Be a Little Girl in America: Research

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If you're raising daughters, you might want to avoid several states in the southern or southwestern regions.

A recent report by the Girl Scout Research Institute titled "The State of Girls: Thriving Or Surviving?" ranks the best and worst states for young girls to grow up in. The index of girls' well-being is a calculation of five indicators: physical health and safety, emotional health, economic well-being, education, and extracurricular and out-of-school time activity, according to Kamla Modi, Ph.D., senior researcher for the Girl Scout Research Institute.

"These five indicators, when calculated together, form a cohesive story about the measure of how girls are faring," Modi says.

For example, a number of research studies on youth have shown a correlation between participation in extracurricular activities and educational success metrics, such as lower high school dropout, greater college attendance and higher grades, Modi explains. Modi says extracurricular participation "presents a needed balance that supplements the curriculum learned in the classroom."

The Girl Scout study's methodology is based on national data sources, such as the U.S. Census, the Center for Disease Control's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System and the National Center for Education Statistics.

Click through to see which are the worst 10 states for young girls.

10. Arkansas

Forty-two percent of girls ages 3 to 4 are enrolled in preschool in Arkansas. Roughly 31% of girls ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese. About 26% of school-age girls are living in poverty.

9. Georgia

About 36% of girls ages 10 to 17 in Georgia are overweight or obese. About 26% of school-age girls are living in poverty. Good news: Seventy-seven percent of girls ages 6 to 17 participate in at least one extracurricular activity.

8. Tennessee

This state ranks second to last for emotional health. Twelve percent of girls ages 6 to 17 need treatment for emotional, behavioral or developmental issues. Roughly 28% of girls ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese.

7. West Virginia

This state ranks second to last for extracurricular activities. About 28% of girls ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese, and 24% of school-age girls are living in poverty.

6. Louisiana

Roughly 37% of girls ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese, and about 12% of girls ages 6 to 17 have experienced neighborhood violence. Extracurricular activity, though, is bustling, with 82% of girls participating in at least one.

5. Oklahoma

This state ranked second to last for physical health and safety. Twenty-nine percent of girls ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese, 16% of girls ages 6 to 17 have experienced neighborhood violence, and 11% of girls ages 6 to 17 need treatment for emotional, behavioral or developmental issues.

4. Arizona

In this state, about 25% of school-age girls are living in poverty. About 33% of girls ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese. Roughly 13% of girls ages 6 to 17 have experienced neighborhood violence. On the bright side, about 79% of girls ages 6 to 17 participate in at least one extracurricular activity.

3. New Mexico

In New Mexico, only 22% of fourth-grade girls are proficient in reading and 24% of eighth-grade girls are proficient in math. Roughly 15% of girls ages 6 to 17 have experienced neighborhood violence, and 28% of school-age girls are living in poverty.

2. Nevada

Nevada ranked at the very bottom for education and extracurricular activities. In this state, one out of four girls ages 10 to 17 are overweight or obese and 22% of school-age girls are living in poverty.

1. Mississippi

This state ranked at the bottom of the list for physical health and safety, with 37% of girls ages 10 to 17 being overweight or obese and about 13% of girls ages 6 to 17 experiencing neighborhood violence. It also ranked last for emotional health, with 8% of girls ages 6 to 17 needing treatment for emotional, behavioral or developmental issues.