Free Fitness for Kids in Need

Christine Pitawanich / NCC News

11/17/2009

Syracuse, N.Y. - With the New York State child obesity rates higher than 30%, it’s no wonder why Syracuse has started “Fit Club,” a free-of-charge after school fitness program where kids will do aerobic activity, strength-building exercises, and learn about nutrition.

The Syracuse Parks and Recreation Department and Strength In Motion, a sports training center, teamed up to offer kids a place to be active. Funding for the program came from government grant money that is geared towards promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Giving Back

The pilot program started just last Friday at McChesney Park and will continue twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays) for the next six weeks.

Corey Parker, the owner of Strength In Motion as well as the Program Director, said his company doesn’t receive any money for coaching the kids, but that’s okay.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do,” said Parker. “Working with the inner city kids…I feel like it’s giving something back,” he said.

According to Parker, the kids are getting much needed exercise, but it’s still not enough.

“We need to make sure we’re doing something that’s making them active on the days they’re not doing that 60-minute program. Two days out of seven is not going to have the results that you want,” said Parker.

The kids are fortunate to get personal training for free. Parker said normally, it would cost $15 per hour at the Strength In Motion Training Center for the same services.

A Safe Place is the Key

SU Diet and Nutrition Professor, Lynn Brann, thinks that anything that can get kids active in a safe environment is a benefit. She said many times, it’s the child’s environment that makes it hard to live a healthy lifestyle.

“Do they have a park? Do they have sidewalks? [It’s] their physical environment that’s either lending or not lending to their being physically active,” said Brann. “There are a lot of barriers that kids could encounter, if for example their parents are working, and they go home after school and their safe place is to be at home in front of the TV or playing a video game, then they’re not getting that opportunity [to be active],” she continued.

And according to neighborhoodscout.com, in Syracuse where the crime rate is about 50% higher than the state average, the opportunities for kids to be play in safe places can be hard to find.