Parent to Parent: Pilates For Kids

WSVN -- It's helped famous bodies like Madonna and Jennifer Aniston stay in shape, so can pilates do the same for your child?

Shellp Power: "Start to move your fingertips to the center of the room and roll your body up."

Shelly Power, an instructor at Polestar Pilates in Miami, says with childhood obesity on the rise in this country, it's so important to get children up and moving.

Shelly Power: "It's really beneficial helping them with their posture. They sit a lot in school, and they don't get a lot of activity."

Pilates is a body conditioning exercise that improves both your mental and physical well-being, and nearly anyone can do it.

Seven's parenting expert Dr. Valerie Goode says what's great about this form of exercise is that if your child doesn't excel at sports, pilates is a great way to help build his or her self-esteem.

Seven's parenting expert Dr. Valerie Goode: "Well, pilates is something you do by yourself. It doesn't matter what the guy next to you is doing, and it gives you confidence in your body."

In fact, pilates has been shown to increase flexibility, strength, endurance and coordination. Plus, it's a great stress-reliever.

Dr. Valerie Goode: "The only thing you can do while your doing pilates is what you're doing with your body, so you're not going to be thinking about what is making you stressed or anxious."

Dr. Valerie says pilates is beneficial for kids with learning disabilities or attention deficit disorder because it calms them down and helps them focus.

Dr. Valerie Goode: "In pilates, your whole focus is on your power house, which is around your abdominal area, so you're learning how to focus."

The best part about pilates is that kids enjoy it, so they are more likely to stick with it.

Chloe Simons: "It's cool because you're stretching, and it feels good."

Maegan Brody: "I like the exercise where we have to pull up our knees to our stomach and roll back and forth. That was fun."

And because many parents already do pilates, they know the amazing benefits for their kids.

Amy Simons: "It will help them with their flexibility, their balance, their body image and I think it's a great program for them to be involved with."

Lynn Martinez: "Polestar Pilates is now behind an initiative to get pilates into Miami-Dade public schools by offering training programs to physical education teachers."

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