|
Battle child obesity with new program: Body by Brandy 4Kidz
The Knight-Ridder Tribune (Sat 15 Apr 2006 Byline: By Adrienne P. Samuels, The Boston Globe) reports on a new experiment in the battle against child obesity called Body by Brandy 4 Kidz. Dreamed up by a Roxbury fitness guru, it is subsidized by major health groups and will be free for children who receive "fitness prescriptions" from doctors at the weight management program at Children's Hospital Boston and at a handful of community health centers across the city. The program's designers also hope to eventually make the gym available for schools that don't have fitness programs. The nonprofit Body By Brandy 4 Kidz has a boxing ring, hip-hop classes, and a rock-climbing wall. Staff members will teach the children how to warm up on child-sized treadmills, then move them to elliptical trainers, tiny rowing machines, or a child-friendly step aerobics class set to funky house music. The point is to form good habits, and to offer encouragement to a generation used to more sedentary forms of entertainment, program officials said. For instance, video game screens on the exercise bikes don't work unless the pedals are turning.
|
