For the young, fitness rules

Researchers say a combination of too much television and video games, cuts in school physical education programmes and a sugary, high-fat diet have left children in the US out of shape

Calvin Combs, 12, wanted to hang out with friends. Kameron Cooper, also 12, hoped to get stronger. Dan Sallitt, 14, sought an edge at baseball tryouts in the spring.

For these reasons, the young tween- and teenagers found themselves in an unlikely place: among the treadmills, exercise bikes and stair-stepping machines at the Howard County, Maryland, United States, YMCA, where adults come to sweat.

They all signed up for a fitness class being offered at YMCAs around the United States that teaches children as young as 12 how to navigate the exercise rooms on their own.

The young trainees are just a few of the children who have found their way into adult gyms and health clubs. During a class at a Baltimore yoga studio, kindergartners and preschoolers stand on one leg.

At the Bel Air Athletic Club, preteens and teenagers sprint in a programme called XT - for Xplosive Training - while younger children burn calories on a rock-climbing wall.

A programme called Girls on the Run of Baltimore, a branch of a United States initiative, helps girls from third to eighth grade train for a 5km run.

At a Timonium, Maryland club, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts sign up for group conditioning programmes to help earn fitness badges.

Life Time Fitness centres, with branches in eight states (not including Maryland), have hip-hop fitness classes for kids ages 5 to 16, and teach kids over 10 how to use all areas of the gym.

For a country in the throes of an epidemic of child obesity, kids in the gym sounds like a good thing. But is it?

"I have very mixed feelings,'' says Jim Pivarnik, a professor of kinesiology and epidemiology at Michigan State University. On one hand, he says, at least the kids involved are doing something.

"The minuses are, kids are not little adults,'' he adds. "They're not going to do anything long-term if it's not fun.''

The problem has been well-documented: Researchers say a combination of too much television and video games, cuts in school physical education programmes and a sugary, high-fat diet have left kids dangerously out of shape.

Fifteen per cent of school-age children are estimated to be obese, and the American Heart Association reported recently that more than 10 per cent of United States children from ages 2 to 5 are overweight, up 7 per cent from a decade ago.

A Centres for Disease Control and Prevention survey released in 2003 found that nearly 23 per cent of children ages 9 to 13 were not physically active at all in their free time.

At the same time, there is another group of young people interested in getting into the gym - the aspiring athletes who want an advantage in the increasingly competitive world of school sports.

The XT classes, offered at the Bel Air Athletic Club and 10 other Wellbridge-owned clubs around the country, work with youths from ages 8 to 18 on basics such as running form.

The classes, which started in September, use the running tracks and basketball courts at the gyms.

"Our kids don't know how to really run anymore,'' says James Warren, a professional trainer who designed XT. "Kids these days are either competing or playing Nintendo. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground.''

Some parents enrol their children in gym-based programmes as a convenience, trainers say; they want to be able to work out themselves while having the kids in a supervised activity.

But if that is the only motivation, the experts say, the child probably won't stick with the programme - and may even be turned off to fitness.

"What are you gaining by putting your child in an exercise class?'' asks Mary L. Gavin, a paediatrician and co-author of Fit Kids: A Practical Guide to Raising Active and Healthy Children - From Birth to Teens.

"I think children need to be active every day, and the best thing is being active in things they enjoy. That's your long-term goal, rather than taking a six-week cardio class.''

Mike Jeddry of Bel Air, Maryland, says the XT class and working with a personal trainer have made a big difference for his 12-year-old daughter, Alex.

Although Alex dances one day a week and plays on as many as three soccer teams on weekends, she needed a different kind of physical activity, he says.

It does not hurt that Jeddry and his wife, Phyllis, can work out at the Bel Air Athletic Club while Alex takes her class. But more importantly, Jeddry says, his daughter enjoys XT.

"In the last six months,'' he adds, "I've seen a dramatic change in her body shape.''

Calvin Combs, who lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, heard about the programme at the Howard County YMCA from a friend, who raved about the weekend teen nights that successful graduates of the class can attend at the fitness centre.

"She came here and had a really good time,'' he says of his friend, "so I wanted to try it''.

Calvin, a dark-haired boy of average build, says he liked playing football with neighbourhood friends and going to a basketball practice camp, but wanted something more.

Judith Geller took her son Jake Raitzyk, 5, to a YogaKids class at Quantum Yoga and Fitness in North Baltimore after he saw her following a yoga video at home. "I want to be there,'' he announced.

In the North Baltimore studio, Jake stretched, took turns pulling and pushing a partner in a rowing motion and ended the session by relaxing on a mat with a stuffed dog.

Deb Donofrio, who teaches YogaKids in Baltimore - part of a national programme that started a decade ago - has noticed a boom in interest; she now teaches in schools and even leads yoga birthday parties.

YogaKids founder Marsha Wenig says she has certified more than 1,000 teachers in the method, but is wary of imitators who may not be trained in working with children.

"I would rather have (instructors) who have a background with children,'' she says. "They can learn the yoga.'' There is also the question of kids's safety in gym programmes.

As long as children and teenagers are properly supervised and follow guidelines for building up a programme, the American Academy of Paediatrics and the American College of Sports Medicine say strength training can benefit young people.

A key barometer of a teenager's readiness to use equipment such as treadmills and elliptical trainers is whether he or she is finished growing, paediatrician Gavin says. A late-blooming child - developmentally or physically - is more likely to get hurt, she adds.

If children - particularly those under 13 - are going to use such gym equipment, they should be closely monitored by someone with training in the machine and in the development of young people, Gavin says.

"If you don't have all those components, the child is at risk for injury.''

At the Howard County YMCA, veteran trainer Richard Griffith keeps a close eye on his young charges. As the boys work out on cardio machines, Griffith asks them to check their heart rates. Calvin announces his is 201.

"I can go higher,'' he says. But Griffith tells him to slow down - his heart rate during a workout should be between 177 and 187.

After the young people have graduated from Griffith's class,