National data show that the number of children who are overweight is rapidly on the rise, having tripled over the last 20 years. Overweight conditions can contribute to the development of diabetes, high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels, among other problems. As more and more children are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the overweight problem is a potentially deadly one, particularly for black and Hispanic children who are developing the disease at increasingly higher rates.

One Roxbury businesswoman decided to tackle this problem head on by helping local children get healthy and fit. With the support of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Children’s Hospital Boston, Brandy Cruthird, owner of the Body By Brandy Fitness Center, started a gym specifically for kids last spring. The Body By Brandy 4 Kidz gym hosts the FitKidz fitness program, which is open to all children.

The gym also hosts the Children’s Hospital Boston Fitness in the City program, which makes it the first facility where community health center doctors can refer and receive progress reports on young patients who are diagnosed as being overweight. The goal of both programs is to make fitness fun and provide children with a safe environment that features cardiovascular equipment designed especially for kids (treadmills, spinning bikes, rock wall, elliptical machines, and game-bikes), strength and flexibility training, step aerobics, yoga, boxing, kickboxing, tae kwon do, and hip hop dance.

To learn more about these programs and the possibility of subsidized memberships or sliding scale fees for the Body By Brandy 4 Kidz gym, visit www.bodybybrandy.com or call 617-442-2187.