YMCA Makes Room For Kids        submitted: 07/05/07 2:10pm
Fitness Room Targets Children 6-14


By Eugene Paik epaik@cecilwhig.com


The YMCA is hoping that local children will see some major fitness gains without all the usual accompanying pain.

Arcade-style games — called XerGames — at its Elkton facility could be the answer in tearing children away from the television and sending them to the gym, officials say.

“What this does is fool them into exercising,” said George Patchell, executive director of the Cecil County YMCA. “Hopefully, this lets us tackle the childhood obesity epidemic.”

Cecil County might be the first in Maryland to use the machines at a YMCA, he said. Installation of the equipment began late last week on a former racquetball court.

The new fitness machines, to be ready for use by the end of summer, require physical motion to be operated.

The centerpiece of the 800-square-foot room is a pair of large panels attached to the room’s front wall. Players compete by tapping buttons when they light up. The twist of the game, however, is that they can only use hands or feet that are opposite the lit buttons.

“It gets you moving. It’s like if you’re lifting weights,” said Eric Wixon, a technical service manager for California-based Sportwall International, the manufacturer of the machine.

Other machines include a biking game, arcade mainstay Dance Dance Revolution and Trazer, which requires a player to push against a joystick.

The project’s $32,000 cost is being funded by grant money, according to Patchell. Up to 20 children can use the room at a time.

YMCA officials are hoping the new youth fitness room will bring in kids who are too young to use their standard exercise equipment. Patchell said the targeted audience is kids between 6 and 14.

“It’s free for all members, so we’re hoping it will generate more memberships,” he said.

It also addresses a larger issue, he said. It’s a move aimed to lower the county’s obesity rate, a statistic that has consistently ranked worse than the state average.

Last year, 28 percent of men in Cecil and 26 percent of women were obese, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In the state, about 25 percent of men and 24 percent of women were reported to be grossly and dangerously overweight.

Cecil County’s most recent health profile found that almost 26 percent of the county in 2004 was obese, with the state seeing an average of 24 percent.

Statistics for children under 14 were not available, but the state’s 2006 data show that about 20 percent of Cecil County adults 18 through 34 are obese.

The county is not alone in using the unconventional approach to draw children: It appears to be on the edge of a nationwide interactive fitness movement. John Primeau, vice president of operations for Sportwall, said more and more gyms and YMCAs across the country have been installing the machines in recent years.

The concept came into its own just about 18 months ago, he said, with Sportwall seeing profits of over 50 percent annually.

“It’s not just domestic — it’s a worldwide phenomenon,” Primeau said, noting that the company has also installed machines in Mexico, Australia and Europe.

But Patchell isn’t thinking about pioneering a new trend. He’s just hoping the new fitness room will motivate children to get off the couch during their free time.

“This is about having a good time while exercising at the same time,” he said.