What Apple Can Teach Us about Childhood Obesity

August 18, 2010

Whether you use an Apple computer, iPhone, or iPad, I think we can all agree Apple has done an amazing job in creating a group of loyal followers (commonly referred as fanboys) who evangelize their products and services. More valuable then any marketing or advertising, this army of followers has helped Apple become one of the fastest growing most profitable companies in the world. So what can we learn from them…

To understand Apple’s phenomenal growth, you have to go back in time to the early 80’s. A time when men were men, and sheep were sheep! I’ve always said you can’t finish a marathon in the first mile. Apple realized early on that PC’s had the benefit of a head start. To have an opportunity to catch them would take time and effort. They made a strong and early push into the education market by giving discounts to teachers and students. They knew if they could get these young, early adopters they would grow up and be the buyers of their products down the road. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of missteps along the way but they stuck to their strategy and today the same 10 year olds who used Macs, are today buying up iPhone, iMacs, and subscribing to iTunes in record numbers.

The health and wellness industry should stand up and take notice. We need to invest time and energy in making sure the next generation of kids grow up knowing how to make healthy decisions, and the value of an active lifestyle. There are a number of ways we can do this:

Carving out space for a kids club is a great start. Even though most owners acknowledge that operating a Kid’s Club is at best a break even endeavour, by providing a safe environment for parents to bring kids, we are making it possible for parents to workout and be healthy and hopefully pass on those traits to their kids.

But we need to take it to the next level (turn it up to 11 if you will!) Until recently most Kid’s Clubs that I visited were filled with video games (Wii is a good start but let’s get real its not a replacement for the real thing.). A rare double parenthesis: (That being said, I will take on anybody in Wii tennis!) This seems to me to be sending a mixed message! We should provide an opportunity where they can interact with equipment AND have fun. We should be providing classes where parents and kids can workout together. We should be investing in our future members!

From a technology standpoint, Motionsoft offers a fully-integrated Kids Club module.. It allows you to create safe environment where parents can feel comfortable dropping off children while they get-in their workouts. It is easy to use, fully-integrated, and allows you to keep medical and emergency information on file for each child.

Should. Should. Should! It’s easy for me to talk about what we should be doing to mold these young minds and bodies when you are trying to run a business. YMCA’s and JCC’s have historically done a great job in providing services to our young members. Tell us what you are doing in your club that targets kids…