<a href="http://www.semissourian.com/gallery/kidfitness/">Youths get active at HealthPoint Fitness.

Fitness centers that used to be reserved for adults trying to lose weight or bulk up have been opened up to children and adolescents trying to increase their sports performance or simply stay active.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased an average of 11 percent in children ages 2 to 19 since the late 1970s. One local physician said about 20 percent of the children he sees are overweight and increased cholesterol levels and blood pressure are becoming more prevalent in teens.

"We're seeing more type 2 diabetes in adolescents," said Dr. Gary Olson, pediatrician at Olson Pediatrics in Cape Girardeau. "Most of the time the treatment for that is to lose weight and exercise."

Fourteen-year-old Lessley Dennington recorded her workout sets at the HealthPoint Fitness Youth Weight Training Clinic.

Several fitness centers in the area offer group classes to the younger generations in an attempt to get them moving and get them hooked on something other than junk food.

Classes like Kid Cycle, Extreme Game Camp and Shock get adolescents moving and help increase sports skills. Some have nutritional counseling and others offer parent/child training sessions.

"We're just kind of getting them used to gym stuff," said Jasper Price, fitness staff personal trainer at HealthPoint Fitness.

HealthPoint has a Youth Weight Training program for teens 12 to 15 that meets twice a week. The class has about 10 students who are there to get stronger for sports or to stay active.

"A lot of them, the parents just wanted them to learn the proper techniques," said Andy Callis, the personal trainer in charge of the group at HealthPoint. He said strength training at an early age can increase coordination and decrease the likelihood of injury.

"If you're more coordinated, you're less likely to fall," Callis said. "You have more control of your body."

Training teens can be a challenge, though. Trainers have to watch for improper techniques, quell the urge to compete and keep the sessions interesting.

"You also have to look at where they're at developmentally. Some of them aren't coordinated enough for some of the movements," Callis said.

Several of the programs offered to teens are aimed at increasing speed and agility for increased sports performance, but others are just geared toward getting young people active.

Vance Toole, 13, bench-pressed Tuesday while participating in the Youth Weight Training Clinic at HealthPoint Fitness. (Kit Doyle)

"They just for some reason would rather sit in front of the TV or do something else," said Scott Givens, manager at HealthPoint Jackson (formerly Main Street Family Fitness Center).

"They just kind of need that someone other than their parent pushing them to do the physical activity," he said.

HealthPoint Jackson allows children as young as 10 to work out with their parents and offers classes that cater to children as young as 2 years old. The toddlers learn their muscles and use stretch bands to increase flexibility, Givens said.

The weight teens carry isn't necessarily caused by inactivity. It can be attributed to baby fat but should still be taken care of, Olson said.

"I know a lot of those kids do tend to lose that weight down the road," he said. "But you don't know which are pudgy as toddlers and are going to be pudgy as adolescents and pudgy as adults. It doesn't hurt to develop good eating and exercise habits at any age."

Olson said organized fitness and sports can be an asset to keep teens at a healthy weight, but putting overweight children in a group of peers is beneficial because "it's always helpful to have the support of a group." And sandlot sports are not as prevalent anymore.

"Those games of tag, kickball in a vacant lot have gone by the wayside," Olson said.

Several programs work to help teens excel at a sport. Ronda Senn's 13-year-old son Collin is enrolled in the Youth Weight Training program.

"He's going to play football, and we're doing it to kind of get him in shape," Senn said. "He said he wanted to do it."

Two teenage girls in the group are also looking for improved power in their extracurricular activities.

"My arms are really weak," said Harlie Waldon, 13. Harlie is on the dance team at Central High School and wanted to get stronger arms for certain routines.

Lessley Dennington runs four miles a day, six days a week. The 14-year-old is on the cross country team and is a cheerleader at Central High School.

"I just got home from camp yesterday and my mom was like, 'You're going to weight training,'" she said. "I'm happy to be doing it."

charris@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246