WATERVILLE -- In most ways, the scene was familiar to anyone who has been to a fitness center: Trainer Amber Hinkley, fit and energetic, bobbed around the room as she coaxed her crew of nine to get through about 30 minutes of circuit weight training.

Occasionally, Hinkley, a recent University of Maine at Farmington graduate, would find one of her exercisers cheating, either resting before the end of a set or stopping short of a full repetition, and she would scold pleasantly, more mother hen watching out for her chicks than boot camp instructor out for blood.

But then the truth is the nine people in the workout room that day view Hinkley as a mother hen, which is understandable given that most of them are kindergartners and first-graders.

"It is kind of fun," Winslow kindergartner Sean Rooney said after completing his circuit training earlier this week, "and you can get more exercise and work out your muscles."

Welcome to the war against child obesity, a brave new world where 6-year-olds carrying 50 extra pounds fight the battle of the bulges by hitting the gym.

"I really feel it is important for them to learn the importance of physical activity and good nutrition," Hinkley said, "and I want to get to them now -- use a preventive approach -- so they don't get fat."

For many of the children in the Healthy Weight Incentive Program at Alfond Youth Center, though, the operative word is intervention, not prevention.

FOCUS ON FITNESS

Healthy Weight Incentive Program is the official name of the circuit training program Hinkley put 31 children through for 12 weeks last fall, using hydraulic weightlifting equipment designed to fit children 6-14, a sort of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" comes to the fitness club. The spring session began this week.

Hinkley changed the name to Kid Power to give the program a little more zing.

The initial results are encouraging.

Fifth-grader Kaleigh Wiggins lost 10 pounds through the course of the three-days-a-week program.

"I can run a lot faster," Kaleigh said, "and I can do a lot more things, too. I really like it. I'm planning on doing this (program) next time, too. I like it here."

Kaleigh rotated among eight machines designed for upper or lower body development, doing three sets of 12 repetitions on each one. Hinkley takes eight children through the routine at a time.

At the end of the training, if time allows, Hinkley tries to integrate some running into the program, sending children -- one at a time -- on a loop course around the weight machines in the New Balance Youth Fitness Center.

Kid Power is part of a larger anti-child obesity initiative at Alfond Youth Center that includes nutrition education -- a Supper Club for families provides healthy-eating tips -- and a commitment to engage the nearly 200 children who attend the center's After School Program in some form of physical activity on a daily basis.

"We are taking on a tremendous challenge of taking on a real need in the community," Alfond Youth Center Chief Executive Officer Ken Walsh said.

Hinkley's program, one made possible by a $180,000 contribution from New Balance Foundation last year, is a more intense approach, aimed primarily at children already obese.

QUALIFIED HELP

A portion of the New Balance donation went toward creating Hinkley's position of health coordinator.

Walsh said New Balance insisted on having a qualified person whose duties were focused solely on the anti-obesity effort.

Hinkley has a bachelor of science degree in community health education with a minor in nutrition. She also completed a practicum in personal training before joining Alfond Youth Center late last summer.

A runner in high school, Hinkley by nature is a health advocate, and she is not reluctant to spread the good word.

Hinkley confesses that the kitchen staff at Alfond Youth Center has already come to fear her.

"Remember the Soup Nazi in "Seinfeld?" Walsh said. "Well, Amber is known as the Wellness Nazi. She has changed the whole climate down in the kitchen."

But Kid Power has been Hinkley's main focus.

So far, Kaleigh is her prize student.

Overall, the results are less than clear-cut, but part of that grayness speaks to the difficulty of evaluating growing children.

Hinkley said her data is based on 29 of the 31 who started the program last fall -- ultimately eight children dropped out.

At first glance, the numbers seem to suggest that Kid Power was a flop: Overall, the group gained nine pounds over the 12 weeks.

But the group also grew 21 inches and had a net 17.5-inch loss in waist girth.

Hinkley also notes that each of the 12 children who gained weight also grew.

About half the participants in the fall program were at a healthy weight when they started the circuit training. Even so, Hinkley said some of them needed to get more physical activity into their life.

Seven-year-old Ashley Mathieu of Waterville was one of those children.

Ashley participated in the Kid Power program, but what really inspired her were the youth runs that Hinkley directs every Tuesday and Thursday in the fall.

"That motivated her," Ashley's mother, Sue Mathieu, said. "I think she enjoys working out and running, because she is with other kids but there is no pressure. ... They challenge themselves. They get what they put into it."

Sue Mathieu said her daughter had long been reluctant to get involved in typical children activities.

"I always tried to get her to join a sport, something to get her active, and I never could find anything that would motivate her," Mathieu said.

SUPPER CLUB

Sue Mathieu, her husband, Richard Mathieu, and daughters Ashley and Alyssa, 5, also took part in the Supper Club, which met each Tuesday at Alfond Youth Center for 10 weeks. The purpose was to share and learn more about nutritional food with other families.

"We learned how much sugar is in a container of soda or juice," Sue Mathieu said. "The soda was not surprising. I kind of figured there was a lot, but the juice surprised me. You figure it is good for you. I was really surprised how much sugar was in them."

Kaleigh didn't participate in the Supper Club, but she did benefit from the nutrition information Hinkley provided during Kid Power workouts.

Although she still goes to McDonald's on occasion, Kaleigh said she is more conscious about what she eats.

"I started to eat more fruits and drink more water," she said.

Hinkley said children generally respond well to her advice on exercise and nutrition, but that doesn't mean they always stick to a healthy regiment.

"I had one girl one day who brought a mint chocolate-chip ice cream cone and a soda (to the fitness center)," Hinkley said. "I looked at her and said, 'The only food allowed in here is water.' "

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com