Nonprofit Takes a ProActive Role in Ending Childhood Obesity

Spring has arrived, the weather is nice and it is the perfect time for kids to play outside.

For some children, playing and interacting with others may be difficult because of weight issues and body image.

The founder of ProActive Kids, Tony Burke, was once an overweight child who was teased. He eventually lost weight, but retained a certain amount of anxiety around his weight. He started ProActive Kids to help other children learn to lead healthy lives and learn coping skills to help them through life, said Nicki Klinkahmer, executive director of ProActive Kids. 

ProActive Kids is a nonprofit offering a free program three days a week after school at Edward Health & Fitness Center. The program is sponsored by the hospital, she said. It is open to children 8-14 who must be in the 85th percentile or above and struggling with weight. 

The program is offered in eight-week sessions, with children learning a different lesson each time they meet and progressing over time, Klinkhamer said. The next eight-week session of the program will begin on April 2 and registration is underway. 

Fitness professionals and dieticians work with the kids to teach them how to build a healthy lifestyle, she said. 

“Overall we get positive comments from parents,” Klinkhamer said.  “The majority of comments are: ‘God bless you. Thank you for doing this. Thank you for helping our family.’ I hear that pretty much on a daily basis either from parents looking for information or from those on the site.” 

The program has some participants traveling 45 minutes to attend, she said. It is the only free program offered in the community for children struggling with weight, she said. 

The ProActive Kids program is designed to allow children to learn in a safe environment so that when they are in school and have to participate in fitness they feel able to participate and understand how to address other issues such as being teased.

The program is new in the community and this will be the second session offered at Edward, Klinkhamer said, adding that the nonprofit hopes that more people will learn about it and take advantage of the free program.

Among the topics covered during the eight weeks are nutrition and the “my plate” national standard, how to categorize food and eat healthy, problem solving and goal setting, how to manage communicating with others and how to deal with negative comments. 

The program focuses on children, but parents must attend one day out of the week and participate, Klinkhamer said. Fitness and a healthy lifestyle require a family’s commitment. Each Friday families attend and work out together, make a snack and work on various life skills.

“The parents, they are primarily in charge of the child’s health and some do put the onus on the child and we work on the parent taking more responsibility and the tough conversations that have to be had,” Klinkhamer said.

At the start of the eight-week sessions it usually requires some coaxing to get the kids to want to attend, she said.

“At the beginning of the [last] session, I said, ‘guys I know you are kind of scared and not sure what you are going to do, but some of these people are going to be your best friends by the end of the eight weeks.”

Learn more about ProActive Kids and register for the upcoming session.