Almost every day of the week, you'll find Megan Mohler at the Yes! Youth Fitness and Sports Performance in Lee's Summit. It's a gym exclusively for kids.
This year on Workout Wednesday, we are focusing on fighting childhood obesity.
Mohler invited 41 Action News reporter Cynthia Newsome to join her there for a workout. Mohler is a 21-year-old coach who explained that she's personally motivated to help kids achieve their fitness goals.
"When I was a teenager, I struggled with my weight," said Mohler. "I never had other people bullying me; I was bullying myself."
Mohler said she was active in sports as a child, but liked to eat and gained weight. Her breakthrough came when one of her coaches inspired her to develop a different relationship with food. Megan lost 40 lbs.
"Now I have a healthy relationship with food. I'm still not where I want to be, but I'm getting there," Mohler said.
When she's coaching kids, Mohler looks at every child as an individual and shows them love and respect.
"We have to understand that everyone doesn't have the same body type. We're not trying to turn people into skinny Barbie dolls," Mohler said.
The coach also explained that it's important for parents to avoid pressuring their children about their weight. Megan starts by building a relationship of friendship and trust in which she listens to the children to find out how they feel about their health.
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Cynthia Newsome can be reached at cynthia.newsome@kshb.com.
