Club Fit, an on-campus fitness program that was previously offered solely to kinesiology students who were beginning their credential program, has now opened up to students who are fitness majors as well.
Kinesiology professor Christine Galvan said she started Club Fit in 2007. Club Fit is a program that focuses on lower socio-economic African-American and Latino children, a demographic, she said, that is most affected by obesity.
Galvan said the program has worked with more than 400 middle school students in the Long Beach area since its start. The program incorporates one-on-one mentoring, fitness and nutrition education and a range of physical activities. The activities include fitness, flag football and a 5K event at the end of the semester.
In the past, the program would go to schools throughout Long Beach but this year, Club Fit is being held at the LifeFit Center so the children can come here, Galvan said.
This semester, the program has 18 mentors who are working with 25 children from Hale Middle School, some of who have learning disabilities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, Galvan said.
Almost half of all fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders in Long Beach are considered overweight or obese by federal Body Mass Index standards, according to a 2011 study by ReThinking Greater Long Beach.
The program is also a service-learning component of KIN 477, a course taught by Galvan.
Galvan said service learning is an experiential way for students to learn subject matter while serving a population.
“While they are teaching the kids, they are also putting together their unit plans, lesson plans and various forms of assessment,” Galvan said. “So it’s beneficial to my students but also to the population they are serving, so it’s a win-win for both.”
Galvin said they have targeted these individuals to work with so they can make a difference in an undeserved population.
Each child is paired with a kinesiology or fitness major that shares similar interests and works with him or her two times a week for 13 weeks.
When asked if they planned to participate in the program again next semester, some middle schoolers said they didn’t want to leave Club Fit.
“I would do Club Fit every year, even when I am an adult,” sixth grader Solomon Jones said. “I don’t want to quit it.”
Kinesiology major Brandon Hierholzer said the one-on-one mentoring aspect of the program allows him to be a healthy role-model for the children.
“A lot of us are very athletic ourselves, and we like to be out and enjoy being active,” Hierholzer said. “So I think for them, just us showing them that is really good.”
Since starting Club Fit, Galvan has been awarded three grants from the Center for Community Engagement and has used the money to purchase marathon medals and other incentives for the kids.
Most recently, she was awarded a $10,000 grant to reach out to the Long Beach community, such as by setting up a facility that incorporates parent and child exercise and nutrition education.
“The difference that you’re making in the lives of these kids … how could you not love it?” Galvan said. “So it’s something that I will do until I retire.”