The fight against childhood obesity went into full swing Monday as the Prime Time Boxing Club kicked off its “Knocking Out Obesity” tour at Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle School in Hollywood. The tour was started in the spirit of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative against childhood obesity.

Former professional boxer Angelo Nuñez sparred with students at Bancroft Middle Shool as part of the “Knocking Out Obesity” Tour. (photo by Rafael Guerrero)

“It’s not a direct part of the initiative, but it falls under the guidelines,” said Cary Williams-Nunez, co-founder of the Prime Time Boxing Club. “What is happening is that the parents aren’t really feeding the kids well at or they don’t have any activities at home. If we get children excited about working out and teach them a little about nutrition can change their lifestyle.”

Williams-Nunez, her husband and former professional boxer Angelo Nunez, and a couple of trainers from their boxing club, took over P.E. classes, showing the students a few activities they could do at home to stay active like shadow boxing, jumping rope and a few basic conditioning drills like sit-ups and pushups. They also gave a brief lecture on good nutrition, even suggesting that students hold the cheese and mayonnaise from their sandwich the next time they eat out, which drew some groans from the majority of the students.

“They didn’t really seem to go for that, did they?” Williams-Nunez said.

Nunez, a former sparring partner for Oscar De La Hoya, emphasized the importance of not just showing them exercise drills but also educating them about good nutrition.

“It just comes down to basics,” Nunez said. “Everyone says ‘help the kids, help the kids’ but no one really tells them outside of exercising what to eat. Yeah we used to eat the cheese and mayo back in the day, but we also rode bikes and were active so we burned it off.”

Bancroft Middle School was the first stop of the 10-city tour that will visit the 10 fattest cities in the country according to the annual list in Men’s Fitness magazine, including Oklahoma City, Memphis, and Las Vegas. The Prime Time Boxing Club had already reached out to local schools in Northern California in previous years and Williams-Nunez said it was time to take the tour on the road.

“Last year I decided we’re just going to do it,” Williams-Nunez said. “I recruited my husband and a couple of our trainers and we said that we’re going to do this thing.”

Bancroft Middle School was chosen from a list of various local schools nominated, partly because of the administration and staff’s willingness to participate.

“The funny thing is that there are some schools out there who aren’t really open to it,” Williams-Nunez said. “It was really about finding a school that was open to it and who knew the students would benefit from it.”

Jorge Jimenez has taught P.E. classes at Bancroft Middle School for three years and said the program is a great opportunity for the students to learn new ways to stay active.

“It’s an awesome program,” Jimenez said. “A lot of these kids are not exposed to activities like this that come from outside organizations. It really opens up their horizons and the possibilities of what they can do.”

Williams-Nunez also emphasized the importance of teaching children, who are still young and eager to learn, healthy nutrition and activities.

“The reason for middle schools is that we found this age demographic is at a crossroads,” Williams-Nunez said. “They are at ages when they are very aware about their bodies but also don’t really understand how to lose weight. Some of these kids don’t even know what a carbohydrate is.”

The “Knocking Out Obesity” tour will conclude May 29 in Las Vegas. Williams-Nunez hopes they are able to teach the children something that will benefit them for a long time to come.

“It’s important more so now because children aren’t moving around at home, so now we need to have it in schools,” Williams-Nunez said. “It’s got to be here.”

Former professional boxer Angelo Nuñez sparred with students at Bancroft Middle Shool as part of the “Knocking Out Obesity” Tour. (photo by Rafael Guerrero)