Kids join the wellness revolution!

March 10, 2021
vi-lang Xem Tiếng Việt

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 10 March 2021:  California Fitness & Yoga has teamed up with tiNiWorld with the launch of their exclusive new tiNiFit program which is set to change the way Vietnamese kids and families view exercise and working out.

Currently being trialed in 10 tiNiWorld centers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the program is set for its nationwide launch shortly after Tet and combines the high-intensity workouts that have made Cali famous, with the fun kid-friendly approach, characters and narratives that have made tiNiWorld the favorite of Vietnamese kids.

The programs, which will run for eight weeks, will initially see a martial arts narrative run through the weekly 30 minute sessions, where the Cali Kickfit team will put classes of up to 30 kids aged 7-and-up through their paces in an all-kickin’ all-punchin’ fun filled workout.

tiNiWorld’s Chairman, Mr. Thomas Ngo described the partnership as a ‘perfect meeting of the minds’ between the two companies, while his California counterpart Mr. Dane Fort echoed the sentiment, saying that the arrangement was ‘truly a time when the whole is much bigger than the sum of its parts’.

“Cali is the long-established fitness leader in Vietnam. Everyone knows them, everyone trusts them and their exercise programs – so the parents know that their kids are in good hands,” Thomas explained.  “We occupy the same space with kids: kids love us and parents trust us.  This partnership brings kids and parents the best that both companies have to offer, with a Kickfit curriculum mapped to our own superhero characters to build a fun and exciting narrative that keeps the kids passionate and interested.”

Meanwhile, Dane, who has long heralded 2020 as the year that the wellness revolution dawned on Vietnam, sees the tiNiFit program as a way in which the company can fulfill the mission it announced last year – to reach all 96 million Vietnamese people with his fitness message.

Citing his own previous challenges with his weight, and his motivation to be a more active and engaged parent, he drew on his own life story for his tiNiFit ambitions.  “If these kids come home from tiNiFit a little healthier, a little more active, a little more keen on physical activity rather than screen time, and talk their parents into a family walk, a family football game, going for a run, then the multiplier effect of tiNiFit could potentially be huge.”

He noted that one of the key predictors of child obesity was the BMI of their parents, highlighting the way in which learned behaviors in health and nutrition are crucial for kids, and looked to tiNiFit as a way to reverse that pattern – with the kids becoming the teachers of the parents.

Both Fort and Ngo agreed that the program can have potentially huge consequences with child obesity, which Dane has described as “Vietnam’s ticking time-bomb”.

A recent study by Vietnam’s National Institute of Nutrition found that an alarming 42% of kids in urban areas and 35% of kids in rural areas were either overweight or obese[1].  NIN pointed the finger of blame both at the caloric intake of kids of all ages, as well as the lack of physical activity in their lifestyles.  A Stanford University study backed this up, calling Vietnamese kids among the world’s ‘least active’.  The tiNiFit classes directly tackle this, with a program that burns calories and helps overweight kids lose weight.

“This is an urgent societal problem,” said Dane.  “Kids who develop poor nutrition and poor exercise habits young keep these bad behaviors throughout their lives.  Obesity in kids can set off a tragic sequence of health consequences for children, ranging from diabetes and kidney issues, to body image concerns, mental health and self-esteem issues.”

Thomas already noted an interesting bifurcation of kids in the classes, saying that while naturally sporty kids have been drawn to the classes, so too have kids not normally predisposed to exercise who find themselves developing a natural curiosity for exercise.  “We are also seeing a lot of interest from kids who are not naturally drawn to fitness – kids who prefer screen-time to outside-time.  They love the fact that we have built a fun, engaging and approachable fitness program that they want to be a part of.  These are often the kids who are susceptible to everything from obesity to bullying – this kind of activity is great for both their physical health, but also, importantly, for their mental wellbeing and self-esteem.”

The programs typically include two on-stage trainers, with several assisting trainers working their way around the class offering advice and pointers to the kids on the custom choreographies developed for the classes.  Sessions begin with a warm-up, before a progressively more-challenging series of high-intensity exercises that includes a “movement of the week” as part of a program that blends dance and martial arts throughout the half-hour class. tiNiFit classes include break-out sessions with games that focus on cardio-conditioning as well as a final cool down session.  Drinks and refreshments are supplied.

In addition to the in-person classes, the partners are looking to develop an online sister-offering later in the year which will allow kids to join from home on tiNiWorld’s E-TINI online platform.

While commencing with martial arts based workouts, parental feedback has yielded a cornucopia of requests for future themes for exercise programs, meaning a virtually limitless online and offline potential curriculum for tiNiFit going forward.

Programs are presently being trialed on weekends and select centers, and are free-of-charge for kids undertaking the trial programs, while adoring, proud parents look on and snap endless photos of their budding gym-a-holics.

Participating centers include:

  • Hanoi:
    • tiNiWorld Vincom Nguyễn Chí Thanh
    • tiNiWorld Vincom Center Bà Triệu
    • tiNiWorld Vincom Royal City
    • tiNiWorld Vincom Times City
    • tiNiWorld Aeon Hà Đông
  • Ho Chi Minh City:
    • tiNiWorld GigaMall Thu Duc
    • tiNiWorld Mega Mall Thao Dien
    • tiNIWorld Landmark 81
    • tiNiWorld Aeon Mall
    • tiNiWorld Saigon Center

[1] https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/42-percent-of-urban-vietnamese-kids-are-overweight-study-3949414.html