Youths learn benefits of exercise and diet

By JASON GUTIERREZ, Special to The Californian

Posted: Tuesday January 20th, 2004, 11:00 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday January 20th, 2004, 11:00 PM

The gym of the Boys and Girls Club is filled with children of all ages, spread out in lines from wall to wall as Chris Minola stands in front of them and calls out:

"Fit for life, are you ready?"

With hefty enthusiasm, the children all yell back that they are ready and begin their jumping jacks.

"I love that we have started the Fit for Life Program," Minola said. "I think it is important for the kids to become more physically involved with activities. They need to know there is more than just sitting on the couch playing video games all day."

Minola is only 21, but has been head of athletic activities for kids at the Boys and Girls Club for four years.

The Fit for Life Program is a specialized project that has been made possible through a $50,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente.

Since type II diabetes and obesity have spread like wildfire throughout today's youth, this program will help put an end to improper nutrition and exercise practices.

Two hundred children will be actively involved in this fitness program. Fifty of them will be actively participating at the Boys and Girls Club while the other 150 will be dispersed throughout the Bakersfield City School District elementary sites.

Ron Jones is the specialized health/fitness instructor who is overseeing the program at the Boys and Girls Club as well as Hort Elementary, Franklin Elementary and Colonel Nickels Elementary.

"Our program is not about being active in competitive sports, but just about being active," Jones said. "Once kids see there are going to be competitive parts of a program -- like in their typical P.E. class -- they tend to close down and shy away from the activity, especially obese children. Here, there is no pressure and they are still getting the right exercise their body needs."

The secondary portion of the program will be based on proper nutrition and food portions.

"The whole process is a really exciting thing to see happen for the kids," said Zane Smith, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club. "Later on in the program we are going to have a parents' night where the kids will put on a show demonstrating everything that they have learned."

If the parents can help set a good example at home, then everything the children learn in the program can be strongly reinforced and benefit everyone in the family, Smith said.

"These children are learning basic nutritional and exercise information," Jones said. "On top of that, they are having fun and not feeling intimidated."

Oscar Mira is only 9, but he knows that his eating habits were bad. So he was excited when he heard about the program.

"When I would wake up in the morning, I would eat cereal," Oscar said. "And then I would eat cereal again when I would get home.

"Now I am eating more healthy things like carrots and tomatoes and getting the proper nutrition that I didn't get before."