BLOOMINGTON - Saturday afternoon was a time for families to have fun and celebrate fitness. | Fit Kids page

The first annual Family Fitness Day, organized by Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, brought families to White Oak Park to dance, run and learn about health issues on a warm, sunny afternoon.

The goal was to give the community a chance to learn about local opportunities for physical activity to combat the nation's high childhood obesity rates.

Mickey Lower, who organizes dance parties at the Children's Discovery Museum in Normal, attempted to coax attendees sitting in bleachers to dance the Cuban shuffle with her on the soccer field as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" played on a sound system.

"Get your fannies out here!" she urged, smiling.

Attendees trickled down onto the field and danced with her to several songs before the Bloomington dance school Dance Sensations took the field to perform choreographed routines.

Meanwhile, closer to the soccer net, Caitlyn Spayer, 12, timed children with a stopwatch while they ran raising their knees high or sidestepped across the agility ropes that were laid out on the soccer field, which smelled as though it recently had been cut.

Caitlyn said her favorite part of the day was "finding out stuff" about "your health."

She specifically enjoyed OSF St. Joseph Medical Center's booth representing its Center for Healthy Lifestyles. There she saw a representation of 5 pounds of yellow fat compared to the smaller, denser representation of 5 pounds of red muscle.

Also at the event, The Pantagraph introduced its summer Fit Kids Club. Fit Kids is a nearly yearlong initiative by the newspaper that offers approaches to preventing childhood obesity and developing healthy lifestyles for kids and their parents.

The summer club, which runs from June 4 through Aug. 20, allows kids to sign up for weekly e-mails with fun things to do to stay active and healthy, as well as a chance for a variety of prizes. Kids will also have a chance to submit pictures showing how they stay fit.

Kids can join at www.pantagraph.com/email/fitkids.php.

Another family that enjoyed the sunny day at the park was that of Michelle Chapman of Bloomington, who sat on a bench watching a stroller with her 2-month-old daughter, Lily, while her 7-year-old son, Ben, played on the slides.

"He loves sport," said Chapman, originally from England. "Loves anything that's physically active. … He loves the monkey bars."

Denise Balagna, athletic program manager for Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, estimated that about 400 people had attended by 3:30 p.m.

"I am very pleased," she said. "We're hoping to make this an annual event."