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After several years in the newspaper business, Katie Filipczyk Howard stopped fretting about headlines and began focusing on young waistlines.

Howard, a Chevy Chase native and Germantown resident, was working as a copy editor at USA Today three years ago when she became pregnant with daughter Hannah. A former runner at American University, she began thinking about ways to get out of the long hours that the paper demanded and ways to take advantage of her knowledge about fitness.

Since 2004, Howard had been working as a trainer with Patrick Avon, head of The Sergeant's Program, a Potomac-based physical fitness program with a style and intensity level modeled on military boot camps. She came up with the business concept for "Boot Camp Birthday," which gets kids of all ages moving and sweating through a range of physical activities from jumping jacks and push-ups to tug-of-war, potato sack races and obstacle courses.

Howard, 33, who is still a fitness trainer, even completes the picture by showing up in camouflage clothing, although she refrains from shouting and hollering like a true drill sergeant. She sticks to gently "razzing" the kids as they work through the obstacle courses and physical challenges for up to two hours.

Parents can focus on other aspects of the party, and may even get the benefit of seeing the children get tired out by the end of the proceedings.

"When it comes to a birthday party, it's still like something organized but still fun, and it gets your kids moving," she said.

Avon, who also offers exercise programs for children, said that as the amount of free time for youth has diminished and parents' schedules have filled up, consolidating children's physical activity into specific blocks of time, similar to adults spending an hour or two at the gym regularly, is a natural progression.

Although psychological and emotional elements for physical training differ for adults and children, Avon said kids' free-flowing physical activities, from wrestling to climbing trees, can be transformed into a compressed exercise routine.

"It's revised aggressive play, if you look at exercise," he said.

Working at private residences or any nearby available open space, Howard tries to get an idea of the kids' interest and energy level beforehand by talking with parents, although she said most of the kids she has worked with in the area are very active compared to other youth populations.

She will also tailor the activities in "boot camp" depending on gender and age groups. Boys might prefer "Capture the Flag" while girls could be better suited for aerobics. One activity involves children trying to locate items in different food groups and placing them in the right lunch bags.

Howard said although the business is a couple of years old, she is still trying to get it off the ground and gain momentum. One of her early clients in 2007, Jacqueline Connelly of Bethesda, had Howard run birthday parties for both her daughters, her fourth-grader Katy and her kindergartner Kiera. The party for Katy was just for girls in her class and featured dance music and a physical fitness theme, while the kindergarten party was co-ed and featured an "army" theme for the boys.

"When they get to be that age, it's so hard to think of something that's different, that the kids will enjoy, rather than going to the movies or bowling," Connelly said.

She said the older girls had a great time trying to keep up with Howard.

"She definitely wears them out," Connelly said.