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Making exercise fun for kids with the SchoolFit Program
The Sudbury Star (ON) (Wed 07 Mar 2007 Byline: Laura Stradiotto) writes that Karen Hastie wants to put fun into physical fitness. Hastie is the owner of Akfit and KidsFit-Kids Fitness Centre. Hastie is also the founder of the School Physical Fitness Coalition, a non-profit organization involving the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Diabetes Association with a focus on integrating daily physical activity into the lives of elementary students. Hastie started the SchoolFit Program, which targets 1,500 Grade 2 students in 62 elementary schools across the city. In Grade 2, she said, children are at the age where they probably haven't developed any bad habits but are impressionable enough to learn the importance of physical activity. The exercise bike at KidsFit is hooked up to a Sony Playstation so the quicker you peddle, the better you perform in the video game. The interactive gaming bike is an example of some of the equipment available to kids in the SchoolFit Program. Students have the opportunity to visit "the utopia of exercise" at KidsFit on two occasions. A second workshop usually takes place in the school gymnasium and brings kids into group fitness activities, like relays and obstacle courses. As part of the program, children are evaluated and a fitness profile is developed for them. Students are tested on their flexibility, endurance, cardiovascular and strength abilities. Children's scores are plotted on a graph and parents can then determine where their child sits in comparison to other kids.
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