NORMAL - Kristal Shelvin recently joined a women's physical and mental health fitness program through Illinois State University, where she attends graduate school. | Fit Kids page

Her husband, Alton, enjoys running and playing basketball.

Their oldest daughter, 8-year-old Malika, has taken part in typical kids activities like gymnastics and karate, and currently is active in the "Praise Dance" group at the family's church, Mount Pisgah Baptist in Bloomington. Her younger sister, Naya, 1½, gets daily exercise in day care.

But the family wants to find more to do together to stay fit and healthy.

"There's not as much family time as we wanted," said Alton, 33.

His wife agreed. "We're interested in doing something familywide," she said.

That's one of the reasons the Shelvins agreed to take part in Fit Kids, The Pantagraph's nearly yearlong initiative dedicated to identifying and highlighting common-sense approaches to preventing childhood obesity and developing healthier lifestyles for kids and their parents.

The Pantagraph will track the family over the next several months and write updated stories on their progress. The Shelvins also will write a weekly blog at www.pantagraph.com/fitkids, the Fit Kids page on The Pantagraph's Web site, allowing Central Illinois families to share their ideas on keeping fit.

"I was the one who sort of initiated participation (in Fit Kids)," said Kristal, 33. "It's an interesting way to force us to do family fitness activities."

While she was active growing up, Kristal said, nearly all of her relatives are overweight. There also is a history of hypertension in her family.

"And we're just now hearing in the media about childhood obesity," she said. "At least this will give us a fighting chance."

Meanwhile, Alton is fighting the cholesterol battle. And he admits it's hard to give up some of the foods he really likes.

"I like cheese. That's hard," he said, adding he has managed to cut fast food down to about once a month and is eating more oatmeal.

The couple also is trying to educate their daughters on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Malika is learning how to read food labels at the grocery store for trans fat, saturated fat, sugar, calcium and potassium contents.

On a recent trip to the grocery store in search of cereal, Malika chose two varieties, and her mom let her get the one with the lower sugar content.

Kristal also looks for whole grain options and has tried introducing soy milk into the family's diet. So far, that's been tough, she said. The family's diet includes vegetables and fruits every day, and juice intake is limited because of the sugar.

But exercising - especially in the winter - isn't always easy for busy families like the Shelvins. Besides Kristal's school schedule, her husband has a daily, two-hour roundtrip commute to his job with the court diversion service program through the Regional Planning Commission in Champaign.

They have started "no television" nights, opting to listen to music instead. The couple said they all end up dancing - even while cleaning up the kitchen after supper. They also have started playing Wii, the popular interactive video game system.

While the family often takes walks and visits the park in warmer weather, out-of-the-house activities are tougher in the winter.

"It's a challenge with the weather and finding things that are active and not cost-prohibitive," Kristal said.

The Pantagraph thinks many families face the same challenges. That's one of the reasons the Fit Kids project was started. During the next few months, there will be stories throughout the paper that will link families to fitness options and healthy eating tips. A calendar of Twin City events that help lead to a healthier lifestyle also is routinely updated on the Web site.