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Gym-tastic!
Fitness Clubs Are Putting out the Welcome Mat for Kids
By Kelly Burgess
It's long been the conundrum of the local gym: What to do with the kids while Mom or Dad works out? Often the gym's answer was to set aside a small room as a babysitting spot, but parents were often uncomfortable with that approach, worrying about everything from boredom to germs. But that's all changing for the better. Now when Mom goes to the gym to work out, so do her children. Instead of just being watched, they're being taught that fitness is fun and for everyone.
Town Sports International's (TSI) (www.mysportsclubs.com) network of health and fitness clubs is the largest in the Northeast with more than 140 locations under several brand names. Five years ago they decided to expand their fitness focus to include the children of their approximately 350,000 members.
"Baby boomer parents are much better informed as to the benefit of regular exercise and they want their kids to have a good start," says Cheryl Mueller Jones, vice president of programs and services for TSI. "At the same time the media has made kids very aware of their bodies and they're more interested in keeping active and being fit."
In general the target age group at TSI's gyms is ages 3 to 8, but their various locations offer programming to children as young as 6 months in facilities with pools. TSI has also lowered their minimum membership age from 16 to 14 in response to customer demand.
Other traditional adult gyms are following this trend. Dana Jacko is the aerobics director and a personal trainer for Gold's Gym in Riverdale, N.J. She's currently running a pilot program for teens on fitness and healthy eating and is working on a structured program for the younger set. It will include an indoor obstacle course and more organized active play. She is taking her inspiration from her own children, ages 3 and 5, who have always been a part of her personal fitness.
