Tuesday

Physical fitness for kids

Each year millions of people make a New Year's resolution to work out. Now there's a class that's helping young people keep that resolution for the long term.

This special education in gym class is a model for fitness at a time when obesity is an epidemic among children.

The first steps toward a healthy lifestyle are healthy lessons, like how your heart works when you're working out.

The students at Madison Junior High wear heart monitors as they pedal, pump iron and push themselves on the treadmill.

A good evaluation of overall fitness, in fact this high school gym is now dubbed the Madison Health Club.

"Instead of focusing on sports and athletics, we focused on health and wellness and lifestyle management. Every time we picked up a paper we were reading about the kids in the country being obese and not getting enough exercise. We said, 'We have them five days a week, we can make a difference.' We said, 'let's start getting our kids active,' " says Phil Lawler, Naperville District physical education coordinator.

They started by giving kids realistic activities they would continue long beyond their school years. A way to raise the bar to climb higher for the future.

"I think it's great," says Jimmy Haavig, a student.

"I honestly think that in the 21st Century they'll call us personal trainers. In some sense that is what we are. We're individually trying to train each to develop health habits," Lawler says.

It starts at the elementary level and moves forward as students advance in age.

"I think it's good we can have more equipment, so we can get a better physical education," says Samantha Matic, a student.

There are 20 weight machines, 20 cardiovascular machines and one cardiologist who goes over heart tests and cholesterol results.

"The scary thing is, the first year we tested our kids, almost 40 percent of our student body, age 11,12 and 13 had elevated cholesterol," says Lawler.

They're taught how to bring that number down and how to keep each other up.

"We do rock climbing, but it's not just climbing a wall. It's trusting the person below you. It's also communication skills. It's risk taking in a safe fashion. We're teaching the young people to get along together with a group. There's not a corporation out there today that isn't developing employees that need those skills," Lawler says.

Even school districts that don't have the money for specialized equipment can launch the program. Organizers have worked with hospitals and corporate sponsors to aid those in need.

Tuesday, January 1, 2002