About Us
About Us
Imagine a world where childhood obesity is not an epidemic…a world where all kids, even the most disadvantaged, receive the guidance they need to be physically, mentally and emotionally fit…a world where children have positive role models and can themselves become leaders and role models for younger generations…a world where all students complete high school ready for higher education, the workforce, and a healthy, prosperous future. A World Fit For Kids! is creating that world. We work every day to give kids the training, tools and support they need to achieve their goals and lead fit and fulfilling lives.
A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT) delivers physical activity-based youth development programs and training that result in a triple bottom line for young people:
- Obesity reduction
- Increased graduation rates
- Work readiness / jobs
Since 1993, we have served and helped transform the lives of more than 150,000 elementary, middle and high school students in communities with some of the highest diabetes rates and lowest high school graduation rates in Los Angeles. Through a wide range of strategically designed activities—from sport, dance and cultural enrichment, to leadership training, mentoring and academic support—we work to ensure that young people develop the physical, mental and emotional fitness they need to succeed.
Why is Physical Activity the foundation of all WFIT programming?
Physical activity offers the experience of making positive choices and getting positive results. Young people, especially those living in high-crime and high-poverty neighborhoods, often experience life as out of their control. Through our programs they discover there are things they can control, starting with their bodies. They take charge of their health, which leads them to take charge of their education, ultimately leading them to take control over other critical areas of their lives.
The Fit for Success Model
What makes WFIT programming so effective is our innovative mentoring model through which older kids guide younger kids, changing both lives in the process! We train and hire high school students to coach and mentor younger students in their own community, empowering the mentors and mentees to develop lasting healthy behaviors and improve their academics. Ultimately, teen participants develop valuable job skills and self-confidence, stay in school and graduate—ready to pursue post-secondary education and contribute to a skilled workforce. In fact, 94% of students who completed the Teen Fit for Success℠ training and 6-month internship program since 2003 have graduated from high school, primarily from a high school with a 49.5% graduation rate.
Sharing Our Success
A World Fit For Kids! is committed to impacting the lives of as many young people as possible. To do that, we provide train-the-trainer workshops so that other youth-serving organizations and individuals may bring about breakthroughs too. This way the positive impacts are multiplied many times over across our communities.
