“Kids Need Exercise, but What Kind?”

 

By Randi Hutter Epstein

 

Haley Moran-Wollens is not an elite athlete.  She is a 13-year old who, like lots of other teenagers, wants to be fit.  And, like a growing number of teenagers whose parents can afford it, she has a personal trainer.

 

In her case, the trainer is Rodica Vranceanu, who charges $75 an hour for after-school workouts at Radu Physical Culture, a gym in Midtown Manhattan.

 

“I don’t want to be the skinniest,” Haley said.  “I just want to work out.  But a lot of people do it for the nice bodies, even at my age.”

 

Though personal training is by no means the norm for American children, a small but growing number of their parents are paying the membership fees to private gyms for aerobics, weight lifting, and body-molding activities once considered for adults only.

 

At the Spectrum Club in Valencia, CA, children ages 13 to 17 can become Teen Fit members.  They tend to go for the stationary bicycles and weights, said Cindy Breakfield, sports manager, who added that personal trainers were available for the younger set.

 

The Eastcoast Athletic Club in Port Washington, NY has a program called Excel, which offers personal training at $45 an hour to children ages 12 to 17, said Christopher Patti, the fitness director.

 

Some health experts hail the trend, saying that too many children do not get enough exercise.  But others disagree.

 

“It’s a sad precedent,” said Richard Killingsworth, a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.  “We are teaching a behavior that it’s O.K. to be sedentary all day except for the one-hour exercise class.  In the past decade, our children have lost the idea of what it is to enjoy being young and physically active.”

 

Other experts wonder if it is healthy for children to exercise in situations designed for adults.  Children’s bones are more fragile than adults’, and the growth plates on children’s bones have not sealed shut.  So some parents are concerned that injuries could stunt growth.  But experts say that parents need not worry because damage to the growth plates is unusual and when it occurs, it rarely stops development.

 

“There’s little data that reasonable exercise or even more extreme weights will cause permanent damage, but psychologically and physically children should go for higher reps,” rather than heavier weights, said Dr. Peter Jokl, vice chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery and head of the section of sports medicine at Yale.      

 

Also, children are less coordinated than adults and should not be expected to keep up with complex movements.  The solution, said Dr. Jokl, is to simplify exercise routines.

 

As for muscles, their basic makeup is the same, whether old or young.  The difference is that prepubescent children do not have the full load of testosterone and growth hormones, which spur muscle growth.  A 12-year-old boy cannot expect to bulk up the way his 18-year-old brother might, but the younger one can gain a lot of strength, fitness experts say.

 

Most important, children do not cope with extreme heat and humidity as well as adults.  For one thing, their sweat glands are not completely developed, so they cannot release as much heat from overworked muscles as adults can.  So children should drink large amounts of water before and during activities.  The rule of thumb, said Mr., Killingsworth of the C.D.C. is to drink at least two six-ounce glasses of water before, during and after exercising in heat.  Sports drinks that contain extra electrolytes are not necessary.  (A glass of tomato juice or orange juice can replenish nutrients lost.)

 

The real issue, said Charles Corbin, a professor of exercise science and physical education at Arizona State University at Tempe, “is not what children can do, but what children should do.”

 

“Kids are very capable of vigorous activity,” he said, “but is that what they should be doing?  Why would a mom or dad want to take a kid to a spinning class?  We want to teach our kids to be active and healthy and find something they will enjoy so they will continue.”

 

The New York Times, January 4, 2000