Fitness classes for babies may improve health.

2004 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Lucy Brown does a backward somersault down a ramp, leaps over a mat, rolls across a platform, jumps over a series of hoops, squats into a yoga pose, soars over a rope and hops over a row of cones.

And the grinning, cherubic blonde does it all with her diaper intact.

The 2-year-old was one of eight toddlers stretching and puffing their way through yoga poses and aerobic exercises at a recent toddler fitness class at the Seattle Holistic Center.

As the country's population of overweight children swells, parents are flocking to baby exercise classes around the nation where tots as young as one day old can start getting fit.

While mainstream medical experts remain dubious, baby fitness advocates say getting babies and toddlers involved in exercise programs can set them up for a life of good health, improve motor skills and provide a parent-child bonding opportunity.

"I have this little mantra and it goes like this: fit baby equals fit toddler equals fit child equals fit teen equals fit adult," said Helen Garabedian, author of "Itsy Bitsy Yoga: Poses to Help Your Baby Sleep Longer, Digest Better, and Grow Stronger," and instructor of an Itsy Bitsy Yoga class in Marlborough, Mass.

Yoga comes naturally to babies, who often learn the positions independently as they develop, said Garabedian, who teaches babies as young as 3 weeks old. Babies will commonly move into "downward dog" just before they begin crawling, she said.