More kids taking to the gym

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — At Forma Gym in Walnut Creek, Calif., 13-year-old Zakery Galambos climbs a newly installed bouldering wall with the help and encouragement of his personal trainer, Robert Jackson.

About 20 miles away at Hercules (Calif.) Fitness Gym, kids ages 3 and up work with personal trainers and CrossFit instructors Lesha Capitanich Kastl and Bryan Kastl on running and squatting skills as their parents take pictures.

Instead of being left at home or plopped into the child care center at the gym, kids as young as 3 are learning some of the same exercises — modified for their ages — their parents are doing. They are working with personal trainers, taking yoga, Zumba, boot camp and CrossFit classes.

"Parents want their kids to be introduced to a gym and have the tools for exercising later on," says Jackson, co-owner of Forma. His gym has about 50 young clients, ages 6 and up, whose parents pay up to $75 an hour for these one-on-one sessions.

With nearly 20 percent of children obese or at risk of becoming obese, according to the 2008 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System, many parents are desperate to get their kids active.

But there are other reasons, besides weight management, why parents are footing the bill for professional fitness services. Kids like Zakery, who plays ice hockey, want a competitive edge over their peers.

"We're giving him all the tools he needs to succeed," says Nelson Galambos, Zakery's dad. "Not only does it keep him busy and out of trouble, he excels. It's a wise investment."

Galambos also says it will pay off for Zakery not only physically but mentally.

"He will notice a difference when he competes against kids his age and older kids," he says.

Zakery asked for a trainer, and Galambos says that he wouldn't push Zakery to use one to improve his hockey skills if Zakery didn't want it. The family hopes the extra help might lead to a scholarship for Zakery, who would like to attend a top-tier school on the East Coast such as Boston University.

Others, including 17-year-old Matthew Haupmann, work out with personal trainers to boost their self-esteem and improve their physiques. Haupmann has been working with trainer Kirk Michals for more than a year. A skinny kid when he first arrived at All In One Fitness in Walnut Creek, Haupmann has gained 32 pounds of muscle.