KTRV Fox 12 Gyms Geared For Kids

Gyms Geared For Kids

Kuna, Idaho -- We've all heard the facts that America is the heaviest nation in the world and nearly 33 percent of our children are obese, but what Freedom Fitness center in Kuna believes is that to fight it you've got to start early.

"It's about kids coming in and knowing that coming to the gym is fun and hopefully they can carry that with them for life,"said owner Delainy Manker.

Rather than relegating children to a "kids room," where they'll most likely sit and watch TV, they've created and entire fitness center for them. Kid-sized treadmills, elliptical's, and specially engineered weight equipment line the walls, along with hands on games like "dance dance revolution" and interactive bikes that encourage kids to pump faster and harder.

"The faster you ride in the bike the faster your player moves on the screen the more calories they're burning," said owner Randy Manker.  

And it's not just kids, but family is the center of the faith-based gym. In fact, their slogan is "helping families become fit."

"We haven't been able to find a place where we can collaborate children and our family as one, but this was a great institute to do it at," said member Michael Gerdes.

And with nearly 40 percent of their clientele children, Randy and Delainy Manker say they'll be developing even more programs, in addition to the family boot camp and parent child yoga classes they already offer.

"They know if it's a place for their kids its place for them because it's gonna be a family oriented club," said Randy Manker.  

About one in five children in the U.S. is now overweight. Parental obesity more than doubles the risk of adult obesity among kids under 10 years of age.