FIT for KIDS: Risk management for health/fitness facilities

Health/fitness facilities present invaluable opportunities to help children get the necessary amount and types of exercise to achieve health benefits and develop healthy habits that they can carry into adulthood. However, children are accepted to lack the cognitive maturity to avoid danger and may exhibit unreasonable "risk-taking" behaviors in health/fitness facilities. This increases adults` responsibility to prevent accidents when children are present. Therefore, health/fitness service providers should act with greater care toward children than they would toward another adult. When health/fitness facilities are offering their services to children, there are some key risk management practices that they should implement as part of a comprehensive risk management program.