Some experts say exercise is key for good health and overall wellness. One woman has made it her mission to teach kids those fitness skills early and have fun in the process, and her focus is on communities of color. She's Brandy Cruthird, also known as Body By Brandy.

Kids at the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club in Roxbury sing and dance shoulder to shoulder along with Cruthird as she sings her “My body, My business" song.

It’s part of fitness Fridays, and it's a fun way to teach the kids about different muscles. Nine-year-old Aniyah Bing recites parts of her body.

“I learned deltoids, rhomboids, obliques," she said. "I learned hamstrings, and so far, I don’t remember a lot of them.”

Sixth grader Thomas Irby had at least two muscles he remembered.

“The triceps, rhomboids, I forgot what the calves were," he said.

The song is just a part of Cruthird’s long-time mission of bringing fitness to her community, a community where she is well-loved.

“They know me as Body by Brandy. I don’t even think people call me Brandy," she said.

Cruthird first started her own fitness center in Dudley square in 1996 and taught there for 17 years.

“I got into it because I noticed in my area there were no gyms for African-Americans," she said. "That bothered me that a community plagued with diabetes, high blood pressure and so many other coronary risk factors didn’t have access to being educated to taking better care of themselves.”

Now, Cruthird teaches in the Boston public school system and across the state, through her non-profit. Over the years she has helped hundreds transform their lives, and young people are a special passion of hers.

“When I noticed that one out of four children in America are overweight, it inspired me to open a kids’ gym," she said. "I was already teaching physical education while owning a gym, but I noticed kids don’t have access ... why are our kids overweight? I wasn’t an overweight child.”

Cruthird looks like an athlete, perhaps a runner, but for kids like Aniyah Bing and Thomas Irby she is a breath of fresh air.

“I like how she built up our character and made us feel stronger about ourselves and helped us believe in ourselves," Bing said.

“It means a lot because sometimes at school we don’t get to be this active and move around," Irby added. "We usually just play tag or something. With Ms. Brandy here, she motivated all of us to move around and just keep our body in shape so we can be a better person when we grow up.”

If these kids can grow up stronger, better and healthier, Brandy Cruthird believes she’s done her job.

“Who teaches you to love your body as a child, and especially a little girl?" she said with a smile. "So, I really want them to be inspired to love your body and know your body. That’s the only body you got, so if you don’t take care of it now, it’s not going to take care of you later.”

Click here to contact Brandy Cruthird.