|
Updated June 5th, 2008
Fitness Club for Kids Becomes
‘Go Healthy Champion’
Elementary school students exercise during a Fitness Club for Kids
workout.
The Fitness Club for Kids, a La
Cañada Flintridge-based, non-profit
organization, recently became an
official local “Go Healthy
Champion” of the Alliance for a
Healthier Generation (AHG). AHG
is a joint initiative between the
American Heart Association and the
William J. Clinton Foundation.
The Fitness Club for Kids will
participate and organize “Go
Healthy” events as well as working
in conjunction with AHG and the
local American Heart Association
affiliate to promote children’s fitness
and nutrition and to fight childhood
obesity in the Los Angeles area.
Members of the Fitness Club for
Kids staff recently participated in a
local AHG event at Evelyn Gratts
Elementary School in downtown Los
Angeles to help children have fun,
get fit and learn about healthy eating.
On Friday, April 18, fitness trainers
Adrian Pietrariu, Gil Uriarte and
Natasha Ventura, and nutritionist Jon
Weber led students kindergarten
through fifth grade in a series of
physical education games and nutrition
education activities.
Each fitness trainer worked with
groups of students stretching, running,
jumping and playing, while
Weber spent 15 minutes in each class
talking about healthy eating, nutritional
basics and the importance of
hydration.
Evelyn Gratts Elementary School
is home to more than 500 students
and sits in the shadows of the towering skyline of downtown Los
Angeles.
The American Heart Association
works with schools such as Gratts Elementary as well as with
organizations such as the Boy and
Girls Club of Greater Los Angeles
to provide children with recreation
and fitness opportunities.
The event marked the first time
educators from the Fitness Club for
Kids served as a local “Go Healthy
Champion.”
The Fitness Club for Kids was
formed in 2007 and has served the
foothill community since July 2007,
providing summer fitness camps,
after-school classes in Glendale,
and fitness and nutrition classes in
local parks in partnership with L.A.
County Department of Parks and
Recreation.
“Our fitness trainers have extensive
experience working with kids
and draw great pleasure from the
smiles and joy they get when working
with kids,” said Skip McNevin,
executive director of the Fitness
Club for Kids. “Our experience at
Gratts Elementary was exactly why
we started the Fitness Club for Kids
program, and our involvement as a
‘Go Healthy Champion’ is a significant
step in making major gains
against the epidemic rise in childhood
obesity.”
For more information, visit
www.heathiergeneration.org,
www.igohugo.org or
www.fitnessclubforkids.org.
 |
