On September 27, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba will welcome the Children's Sports and Fitness Expo to the 369th Harlem Armory Center in New York City. The Children's Sports & Fitness Expo will offer participants a day of exercise, education and fun. The Expo will introduce children ages 5-18 to sports activities, nutrition classes and health screenings aimed at encouraging children and parents to choose healthier lifestyles. Participants will also be given information on how to further their training in each of the programs offered. The Expo will begin at 10:00am and is free to the public.

"The need for educating our city's children about how to lead active and healthy lifestyles has never been more significant," said Commissioner Podziba. "Vince Ferguson and the Children's Sports & Fitness Expo staff have done a tremendous job promoting the importance of physical activity and regular health screenings. This grassroots initiative will help to arm our children in the fight against obesity, and by extension, against diseases related to obesity such as asthma, depression, diabetes and heart disease."

The Children's Sports & Fitness Expo will introduce participants to over 25 sports activities including archery, golfing, fencing, hula hooping, gymnastics, wrestling and dancing--all free of charge. Nutrition classes and health screenings for children and their parents will also be available as a means of encouraging healthier lifestyles. As an added bonus, there will also be celebrity guest appearances and performances by Ringling Bros. and Shaun T, creator of Hip Hop Abs. Each child that participates in at least three sports clinics and one health screening will receive a gift bag filled with items and information promoting a healthy and active lifestyle.

"I want to encourage children to participate in as many sports activities as possible with the hopes that they will find an activity that they enjoy and will continue for the rest of their lives," said Body Sculpt President Vincent Ferguson.

Partners and sponsors for the Children's Sports & Fitness Expo include: New York City Sports Commission, Nike, WABC-TV, AmeriGroup Community Care, United Federation of Teachers (UFT), Emmis Communications, Ringling Bros., Con Edison, City of New York Parks and Recreation, Sports New York (SNY) and the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). In addition, Nike will be donating 2,000 pairs of sneakers and t-shirts for the attendees. They also will provide basketballs, footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls for the respective sports workshops.

The 369th Harlem Armory Center is located at One West 142nd Street (between Lennox Ave. and 5th Ave.) in Manhattan.

To learn more about the Children's Sports & Fitness Expo and event registration please visit www.bodysculpt.org.

Body Sculpt of New York, Inc. is a not-for-profit, health and fitness organization, whose purpose is to educate parents and children about childhood obesity and offer healthy lifestyle alternatives, particularly in physical fitness and nutrition. Body Sculpt of New York, Inc. is a not-for-profit physical fitness/drug prevention organization for youth. The organization consists of men and women who travel throughout the New York Tri-state area performing acting skits on stage. This is the organizations way of spreading "sound mind/sound body" principles to the children of New York City.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. The Sports Commission has played an integral role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race, and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.