In a study presented at the American Heart Association Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease, Epidemiology and Prevention on March 5, 2004, the findings indicated that teens are gaining weight at twice the rate their parents did when they were adolescents. According to the Center of Disease Control, 15% of U.S teens and children are now overweight, and that number has more than doubled since the early 1970s.

Almost half of young people between the ages of 12-21 do not participate in any vigorous physical activity. As children move through adolescence they become less active as 43% of all teens watch more than two hours of television each day (U.S. Surgeon General).

With technology rapidly increasing, adolescents are more than ever enticed into a sedentary lifestyle. Simply put, adolescent obesity is the biggest problem facing youth today. With the increased frequency of overweight teens, risk factors for heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure grow.

An alternative to the traditional classes offered in the public education system, FocusFit is dedicated to transforming fitness trends within our adolescent community. Through creative, fun, and innovative class formats, their instructors inspire teens to consistently take a proactive role in improving their health.

FocusFit will be collaborating with New Design High School, which is located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the Seward Park Campus, to hold nine classes per week (three per discipline) at fifty minutes per class.

New classes and disciplines will be added to the group exercise schedule based on the demand and ideas from members. The goal is to instill a desire for discipline and a work ethic among young group-fitness members through creating innovative alternatives to the current model for youth physical education.