Dr. Tejal Kanwar is the Co-Founder of Kleinetics Mumbai-based startup. It is a kids’ fitness system that aims to inculcate a love of exercising and staying healthy from a young age, to prevent the onset of unhealthy lifestyle disorders.

Dr. Tejal is a Gynecologist. She was seeing young girls of 13, 14, 0r 15 years suffering from PCOS or PCOS. She used to prescribe some necessary medicines and fitness exercises needed to manage the condition but she noticed that patients hardly follow any fitness regime and would take only medicines. Coming from a fitness enthusiast family, Dr. Tejal felt the urge to develop a structured fitness program that would bridge the gap. This gave birth to Kleinetics, a program that blends workouts with fun for kids and adults. 

The program was established in 2017 and during COVID, kids were able to access it through an online virtual medium. 

Kleinetics focuses on fun and play-based sessions for children and adults. They apply game mechanics & design techniques to engage and motivate kids to achieve their goals. Every child has a unique need; thus, they offer a customized roadmap for each child using software analytics. Kleinetics lets kids play at their own optimum pace, with attention to the areas required.

USPs of Kleinetics

The startup is able to relate to the consumer, especially the mother. Onboarded certified fitness coaches and experts creating fun and play-based programs for kids. Children get exposure to various sports, gymnastics, self-defense, yoga, and music-based workouts.

Dr. Tejal stresses, “Having fitness without the fun and game approach is not really fun for the child. Our coach training programs are very kids-centric. Coaches come from a background of love for sports.”

They have partnered with several schools in Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru. As their program is structured, they have an evaluation, a leaderboard, and a lot of gamification. 

After the new NEP policy, schools are evolving the PE period which is now more than running and playing sports. “There needs to be a lot of grassroots-level changes in the way fitness is delivered to children. Every group of muscles should be worked upon in a fun manner to give the holistic development of the child,” adds Dr. Tejal. 

Kleinetics replicates functional movement, that is, those movements we use to get things done in our daily lives. This trains the body to be able to perform effectively in real-life situations, including sports.

Kleinetics aims to engage the kids, and build kids into confident individuals. 

Statistics provided by the Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism showed that 5.74% to 8.82% of school children in India are obese. 74% of children between the ages of 5 and 10 do not get enough exercise on a daily basis.

Talking about the challenges, Dr. Tejal expresses, “Keeping the desire up in children for this fun and play-based programs was a little difficult. There has to be intrinsic motivation, it will happen only if the child enjoys the session. Moreover, it is an evolving process”

Lives touched so far

Dr. Tejal informs, “Till now, we have trained about 30,000 kids. We are in 3 cities and were able to reach out to 7 countries over the last 2 and a half years.”

On being asked about the future plans, Dr. Tejal mentions, “Rushing into scaling should not be done as it compromises the quality. And with fitness and children, you need to deliver quality consistently on the grounds.” 

The mindset of people is definitely changing. A shift is definitely happening. After the pandemic, people have become health conscious, they want to take care of their health, so they go for physical activity, gymming, and marathons. With an ongoing sedentary lifestyle, you need to be a lot more physically active. Changes are being seen but they are very small. It’s a long way to go. 

Statistics say that children not only need one hour of structured play but they need one more hour of unstructured play in 24 hours. 

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that children and adolescents ages 6 to 17 years do 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily.

Government policies are encouraging several sports activities like “Khelo India” to make the nation fit and healthy. 

Learnings for aspiring entrepreneurs

 Dr. Tejal concludes, “Entrepreneurship is very tough, challenging, and at the same time exciting too. It is a fun ride. If an idea stays as an idea, it’s of no use. Entrepreneurs should start experimenting and executing their ideas. We all should encourage and support our family women because if they are empowered, they can bring positive changes in the society and nation. 

(Edited by Renu Gupta)