Childhood Obesity & Fitness

Why use Gymkids products?
Obesity within children is growing at an alarming rate and unfortunately, current lifestyles mean that more often than not, children do not exercise as frequently as they should. Gymkids has been designed to encourage a more active lifestyle and in addition to a great design and ease of use, offers the following additional benefits:

• All Gymkids products are manufactured to the highest standards and conform to recognised industry guidelines.
• Gymkids is a specialist in the arena of children's fitness and is already working in conjunction with a number of healthy schools.
• Gymkids products come with a comprehensive warranty.
• Support is only ever a phone call away.
• Our products are designed to improve fitness only and are not aimed at developing muscle. In using the Gymkids range of products children will only ever push against their own weight.

Why Children's Fitness?
The renowned health guru Dr. Helen Murin wrote "We live in a society where 91% of the population suffer from high blood pressure, 78% suffer from high cholesterol and 35% are diabetic. More than 50% of us die of heart attacks and strokes from these factors. We now consider these illnesses to be caused largely by our behaviour. Exercise, in conjunction with a more balanced diet, can dramatically reduce the risk of these types of illnesses".

Changes in lifestyle have meant that:

• Our children no longer spend the majority of their free time playing and interacting with others but instead, spend their time in front of a TV, computer or games consoles.
• Many of the foods that we now eat are packed with large amounts of salt and sugar.
• A large number of our children are now experiencing health problems that in the past were associated with middle age.

Child Obesity

• Overweight and obesity for children and adolescents are defined respectively as being at or above the 85th and 95th percentile of Body Mass Index (BMI).
• Some researchers refer to the 95th percentile as overweight and other as obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which provides national statistical data for weight status of American youth, avoids using the word "obesity," and identifies every child and adolescent above the 85th percentile as "overweight."

Source: The American Obesity Association

• More than 12.5 million children and adolescents 2 to 19 years of age are overweight and are therefore at greater risk for numerous health consequences in life such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. (Acting U.S. Surgeon General Rear Adm. Steven K.Galson, M.D., M.P.H.)

Source: United States Department of Health and Human Services, March 10, 2008

• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), data shows that the prevalence of childhood overweight is increasing.  For children aged 2-5 years, the prevalence increased from 5.0 percent to 13.9 percent; for those aged 6-11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5 percent to 18.8 percent; and for those aged 12-19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0 percent to 17.4 percent. 

Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Nov 2007

• Approximately 30.3 percent of children (ages 6 to 11) are overweight and 15.3 percent are obese. 

Source: The American Obesity Association

Our children are getting fatter and are developing “adult” diseases.
Poor diet and inadequate physical activity are the second leading cause of death in the United States and together account for at least 300,000 deaths annually. Obesity and overweight have reached epidemic proportions in the United States.

The epidemic has hit our children particularly hard: Today there are nearly twice as many overweight children and almost three times as many overweight adolescents as there were in 1980.

The CDC (The Centers for Disease Control) warns that one in three U.S. children born in 2000 will become diabetic unless many more people start eating less and exercising more. Type 2 diabetes in adolescents increased ten-fold between 1982 and 1994.

Our children are becoming increasingly less physically active.
Fewer than 1 in 4 children get 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity per day, and less than 1 in 4 get at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

Many of our children are sedentary at school.
The vast majority of children (85%) travel to school by car or bus—only 13% of children walk or bike to school .

• Since 1989, many school systems have abolished recess, with only 4.1% of states requiring and 22.4% of states recommending that elementary schools provide students with regularly scheduled recess.
• In grade 9, 72% of students get regular physical activity, but by the time they reach grade 12, only 55% of them are physically active. Nearly 10% of students in grades 9-12 participate in no vigorous or moderate physical activity on a weekly basis.

Emphasis on physical education in the public school system has markedly declined.
Between 1991 and 1999, the percentage of students who took physical education on a daily basis dropped from 42% to 29%.

When children are active, their academic performance improves.
Two studies demonstrated that providing more time for physical activity (by reducing class time) can lead to increased test scores, particularly in the area of mathematics, and another study linked physical activity programs to stronger academic achievement, increased concentration, and improved math, reading, and writing test scores.

The California correlation of the SAT-9 with the Fitnessgram, says California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, "provides compelling evidence that the physical well-being of students has a direct impact on their ability to achieve academically. We now have the proof we've been looking for: students achieve best when they are physically fit. Thousands of years ago, the Greeks understood the importance of improving spirit, mind, and body. The research presented here validates their philosophic approach with scientific validation".

Children with daily physical education exhibit better attendance, a more positive attitude to school, and superior academic performance.

Source: ‘Building the Argument: The Need for Physical Education and Physical Activity in Our Schools’ report published by ‘Action for Healthy Kids’ 2003 www.actionforhealthykids.org

Daycare / Nursery
If you are responsible for looking after young children, then these products are a must. Children not only enjoy the activity but benefit from the social integration and improved levels of fitness that these products can bring. We believe in the following:

• Promoting good health as part of an active lifestyle.
• Promoting good fitness habits for life.
• Encouraging children to interact with others.
• Encouraging confidence in children.
• Encouraging children to have FUN.

Schools
We already work with a number of schools and educational bodies and recognize the stresses and strains that educational professionals are under. As a result, we are able to produce tailored programme and fitness guides to assist with the introduction of these products. If necessary, one of our education specialists can spend a morning on site, taking teachers through the process.

Children's Hospitals
Evidence suggests that moderate and light exercise can significantly improve the recovery period associated with orthopaedic injuries. With this in mind, we believe there exists a huge opportunity within the paediatric departments of many hospitals to assist Doctors, Nurses and Physiotherapists in aiding children's recovery.

We have a great deal of experience in the area of children's fitness and are able to work alongside our customers and clients in producing tailored fitness programmes to support the work that our partners are doing.

Leisure Centers / Gyms / Fitness Centers
Fitness and leisure centers have embraced the Gymkids range either as a unique addition to their existing children’s childcare provision or have actually developed structured classes incorporating Gymkids equipment such as circuit class, spinning class or dance step class.

We have created a range of user guides and structured materials to help you deliver fun fitness classes for children of all ages. Please contact us or more details.