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You're never too young to be healthy

Fitness classes for kids are springing up, and parents hope their children will too.

By MINDY RUBENSTEIN
Published September 4, 2006

Nine-year-old Talia Pardo lifts small, black weights to music in the back of the glass-walled exercise room. About 15 kids laugh and joke as they follow along with their teacher.

Without realizing it, they are burning calories.

The determination is evident on Talia's face. "She loves to come," her mother, Cristina Aliaga, said. "This is what she needs."

In the front of the room, Denise van Cleave keeps the kids moving. A personal trainer and former registered nurse, van Cleave leads the exercise class for kids ages 6 to 12 at Sports & Field in Wesley Chapel.

Part of the facility's Kid Fit program, the class meets twice a week. Activities include aerobics and weight lifting, sometimes inside the gym and sometimes on the field.

The goal is to get "the kids up and doing stuff instead of just sitting at home," van Cleave said.

Kid Fit is among a growing number of exercise programs and facilities in the Pasco area that focus on getting kids to stay in shape or lose weight. In Wesley Chapel, Laura Fetters and her husband own My Gym Children's Fitness. In New Tampa, Carol Gravante teaches an exercise class for kids ages 3 to 6 using jumping, skipping and bean bag throwing exercises. And in New Port Richey, Frank and Sandy Goldman recently opened SquKid Fitness for kids.

Fitness instructors say unhealthy eating habits and a lack of physical education in public schools are why kids are getting fatter. The percentage of children who are overweight has more than doubled since 1980, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"A lot of the parents tell me they're bringing their kids here because they're heavy," van Cleave said.

Most schools in Pasco County have physical education for a total of 90 minutes a week, said Kathleen Sanz, the district's supervisor of curriculum and instructional services. The schools determine how to work it into their schedules. Some do three 30-minute sessions, some do two 45-minute sessions.

But the National Association for Sport & Physical Education recommends 60 minutes of physical activity a day for children ages 5 to 12, or more than 200 minutes per week of guided physical instruction.

"If our school day were longer we could fit more in," Sanz said. The district soon will have a new physical education supervisor, she added, and the amount of physical education "will be something I'm sure that person will look at."

Parents are ready for the change.

"That's pretty pathetic," said Cindi Matter about the amount of time allotted for physical education in Pasco schools.

Matter has two children at Seven Oaks Elementary in Wesley Chapel. She said she suggested the school assign physical education homework, like 20 jumping jacks. A parent would sign off on the "homework." The activity would give families something fun to do together, she said.

"You have homework for everything else," she said. "Why not P.E. homework?"

The district has a calendar with suggested exercises that kids can do at home, but it's up to physical education teachers to distribute them. It's not mandatory, Sanz said.

Some parents also say unhealthy school lunches contribute to kids' weight problems.

Aliaga makes sure her daughter gets a healthy meal at school. She packs Talia's lunch with wraps or sandwiches on whole wheat bread and uses fat-free mayonnaise.

Lori Troup's 7-year-old daughter attends Seven Oaks. Troup said she had to start packing her daughter's lunch too after letting the child buy lunch at school for a couple of weeks. "I had to stop it because she's gaining weight," she said. "I can't let her eat the school lunches."

Rick Kurtz, director of food and nutrition for Pasco schools, said parents receive nutritional information each week about school lunches. He encourages them to sit down with their children and discuss what they should eat.

While meal choices include chicken nuggets, pizza and taco salad, Kurtz said that nothing is deep fried and that lower fat ingredients are used. Healthy side dishes are also offered.

"We're pretty proud that we have a selection of fruits and vegetables that complement those meal choices every day," he said.

Fitness and dance classes are an option for parents who want to make sure the kids get some exercise to offset the calories.

The gyms are also a way for working parents to spend quality time with their kids, said Laura Fetters, the owner of My Gym Children's Fitness. She has two boys, ages 4 and 6.

Carol Gravante teaches a class for kids ages 3 to 6 at Wee R Fit in New Tampa's Arbor Greene clubhouse. Her focus is on the younger age group, rather than elementary and middle school students.

The class includes jumping, skipping, music, and bean bag throwing. "All the stuff that they love to do," Gravante said.

Gravante, who is certified in aerobics, weight management and sports nutrition, said the focus should be on the parents. "It depends on how much denial they're in about their own health," she said.

She recommends parents serve as role models and encourage children to eat healthy. Offer the healthy foods at the table, and don't bribe them with fattening desserts, she said.

Give strawberries and bananas, for example, as a reward for eating a healthy dinner. Keep junk food out of the house and stay away from processed foods. "They're very addictive and cause a myriad of problems in children and adults," Gravante said.

Gravante has battled weight problems all her life, she said, and her children followed her example. "When I got well," she said, "everybody got well."

[Last modified September 4, 2006, 06:47:25]