ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601150002
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV18 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: TERESA OGLE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Melissa Smith works a group of 45 fifth-graders through dance aerobics at Kipps Elementary School with the beat of rock music in the background.
Then the 11-year-old boys and girls divide into smaller groups to come up with exercise routines of their own - routines that are more fun than work for children.
Stephanie Deasy, owner of The Body Shop, and Smith, one of her instructors, developed programs to take into several Blacksburg schools at their own expense to boost self-esteem among local children and teen-agers.
In their workshops, Deasy and Smith teach children and teen-agers how to move and how mentally stimulating it can be to exercise.
For younger children, the two use games like follow the leader and jump through the hoop, or let the children dance to an educational rap on muscles, chanting while they move.
Although the school workshops include boys and girls, Deasy's primary interest is encouraging girls to exercise.
By teaching how to move and eat, she hopes she can help girls become comfortable with their rapidly changing bodies. Over the summer, Deasy started two classes at the Body Shop just for ages 7-10 and 11-14.
"Many kids are intimidated by intense physical exercise like running," she says, "It feels hard, which affects their attitude toward exercise and health in general. But once a girl starts exercising, she starts to feel good.
Deasy said she is interested in helping girls 10 to 16 years old because that is when they are forming their self images. Being healthy is the best way to create self-esteem at a time when too many kids aren't healthy, she said.
Although girls are being afforded more opportunities to join sports teams, Deasy said, many girls don't participate in competitive sports.
Aerobics is year-round fun and it's not competitive, so more girls are likely to make aerobics a lifestyle choice.
As a teen-ager, Deasy was influenced by a young aerobics instructor who held twice-a-week sessions for teen-agers to discuss exercise and nutrition. "She became a role model for me. ... Because of her, I discovered aerobics isn't jumping around in cutesy little outfits. It's fun, social, cardio exercise."
She has found in her workshops in the Blacksburg schools that most kids, perhaps intimidated by the idea of physically strenuous exercise, start out with the attitude, "This is stupid." Soon they become involved - hiking through the imaginary jungle or dancing to a rock beat. Without realizing it, they are into aerobics, Deasy said.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB