It is the goal of Kids Get Fit to help at-risk youth and their families to get healthy and have the tools necessary to stay healthy for free. The rise in obesity and diabetes in South Texas is alarming and this program is helping to bring the statistics down. Kids Get Fit also wants to provide the information the parents need on how to get their child healthy so they can become a healthy as a family.

Nutrition class is taught once a week for all participants at each location, this allows the children to actively take part in preparing a meal or snack. The class also introduces new foods that they typically wouldn't have tried, giving them more healthier options when they are at home. The parents are also included at our studio for nutrition class, the goal is to teach them that eating healthy doen't have to be expensive or time consuming. To incorporate more activity into the participants day we have a fitness, Zumba, yoga and mindfulness classes. These classes give them variety and keeps their interests peaked thus making them excited to come to class. The theory is that even though they are required to come to class if they are having fun then they will put more effort in to the activity versus dreading the class and not really trying.

All Kids Get Fit instructors are certified in their area of teaching and most have their own private practices were they host classes. All of the nutritionist on staff work or have worked with the Food Bank of Corpus Christi and understand the needs lower income families face when it comes to providing their families with healthy meals. The program also has the facilities needed to host all classes comfortably and has the possibility of gaining a larger space which would allow more classes to be held at one time.

At all locations the children go through an evaluation at the beginning and end of the program they are participating in. Evaluations include: sit and reach (flexibility), step ups for a minute with heart rate taken before and after, push-ups and crunches for a minute. The measurements taken at the beginning are used as bench marks and the end results show where improvement is needed or what is working. Evaluations at the studio include all the exercises fore mentioned but also include height, weight and BMI (Body Mass Index). Assessments are done every 12 weeks at the studio. The physicians at Driscoll Children's Hospital preform a more in depth assessment on the participants that tells how at-risk the child is for obesity/ diabetes before and after they have completed a 12 week session. Parents are also asked to give their feed back at least once a month through a questionnaire. Their feed back gives the program the information it needs to better help them and their child(ren).

Kids Get Fit has grown beyond the one class offered at the Boys and Girls Club, the program is offered at more then one location and host more than five different classes and no longer just in the Corpus Christi area but also in Robstown. The program was also able to hold a 2 hour camp Monday thru Friday throughout the summer and a have a local running club at that time while still having its regular afternoon classes. The parents are able to get more involved with the program by not only attending nutrition class but are also allowed to participate in yoga class as well.
The need for the program expands further then the Corpus Christi and Robstown areas and Kids Get Fit wants to reach these families. Plans to start the program in the Boys and Girls Clubs of Alice and Kingsville are in progress. It is also a goal to get an after school program started in the local schools.
The clinical study that Kids Get Fit has partnered with needs more participants to get a better idea of how at-risk the youth in the Coastal Bend are to developing obesity and/or diabetes. About 20 kids have gone through the study since it has started and the physicians need at least 10 more to make a good conclusive report.