Inseparable Sisters Join Fit Youth and Learn Lifetime Health Habits

The Miller sisters — Arianna, 10, and Yarilyse “Yari” 9 — share a special bond. The Parma girls do just about everything together: swimming, gymnastics, rollerblading and more. Their current favorite hobby is making slime. And, they always watch out for each other.

Their mother, Mary Ann, has three older children and loves that her two youngest are so close — and she wants to make sure the girls are there for each other in the long run. “Because diabetes runs in the family, I’ve always had a concern that the children would be at risk for the disease,” says Mrs. Miller. She spoke to the girls’ pediatrician about her concern; he recommended they join Fit Youth, a healthy living program offered by Cleveland Clinic Children’s.

Arianna, Yari and their mom registered to attend Fit Youth at Cleveland Clinic Independence Family Health Center. “Initially, I thought it would be somewhat of a struggle to get the girls to participate in the program. As it turns out, quite the opposite was true,” says Mrs. Miller.

The girls loved the program and looked forward to going to their Fit Youth session each week. Yari and Arianna proved to be leaders within their Fit Youth group. They were the first ones to give answers and share examples, were engaged and were excited to learn about the weekly topics and encouraged other kids in the group. They really thrived in this environment.

“It’s hard for adults to make these types of changes, let alone children. Arianna and Yari’s mom was very much involved, which is important. Having the parent’s support helps to encourage the kids and keep them on the path to healthy living,” explains Katie Jones, PhD, a pediatric psychologist at Cleveland Clinic Independence.

An added benefit for siblings is having an instant playmate, which helps with the exercise portion of the program. Each week, the Fit Youth participants and their parents learn new activities that can be done inside or outside to increase the amount of exercise the kids get.

“Fit Youth was an amazing program that inspired me to inspire my children to make healthy choices. We went through this journey together.”

“Every week we focus on different exercises and incorporate them into a fun activity, like a game. It gives families and kids a way to exercise without having them do an actual workout,” says Zach Carter, CSCS, an exercise physiologist at Cleveland Clinic's Independence Family Health Center.

Nutrition seemed to have made the biggest impact on the sisters — with both of them being able to rattle off much of the information they learned at any moment. “It was fun to learn about nutrition. It helped me to make better food choices,” recalls Yari.

Learning healthy eating habits and nutrition early on sets the stage for later in life. “The girls’ ability to retain nutrition information was remarkable,” says Hanna Freeman, MS, RD, CSP, LD, pediatric registered dietitian at Independence Family Health Center. “They were really excited about what they were being taught. The way they spoke about food towards the end was much healthier than when they first started at Fit Youth.”

The girls and their family incorporate all of this into their daily lives now. “We’re more adventurous with what we eat. We’ve even tried new recipes like cauliflower tots and pizza made on zucchini,” says Arianna. Yari says that they help their mom with grocery shopping by picking out healthier food options, and they continue to keep track of their steps and other activity.

Because of Fit Youth, the girls learned so many things to help them live healthy lives— how to read food labels, portion control, healthy snacking options, how much sugar and fat should or shouldn’t be consumed, how to incorporate more exercise into their lifestyles and psychological aspects of eating.

“Fit Youth was an amazing program that inspired me to inspire my children to make healthy choices,” says Mrs. Miller. “It was great to have the whole family on board for this commitment of change. We went through this journey together.”