//Jersey Shore Rowing Association/

Super Doc, Mike Barrows, physician and athlete, inspires his young patients to be fit. Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 07/7/07

BY BOBBI SEIDEL
STAFF WRITER Mike Barrows didn't plan to be an inspiration for anyone.

Working part time as a lifeguard, rowing competitively and maintaining an intense training schedule in addition to being a doctor? That's just a continuation of his lifelong love of sports and fitness.

Winning a demanding national lifeguard competition and placing third in another? That's just competing to the best of his ability — always a goal, the Shrewsbury resident says.

But the pediatric endocrinologist is an inspiration for many of the children he treats at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch. That's fine with Barrows, if it helps spur them to eat healthier, exercise regularly and lose weight if necessary.

Barrows' example has motivated Mitchell Johnson, 10, of Howell. Mitchell is being treated for abnormal hormone levels affecting his growth, says his mother, Joanne Johnson, 41.

"I love to swim in the ocean. When I go to the doctor's, he talks about his lifeguarding, and that makes me want to go out and play and exercise at the same time," Mitchell says.

"He's really helped me a lot. He helped me lose weight and get healthier. I learned that if you're not fit, you can have body troubles. Maybe you won't have enough muscles and be strong enough," he says.

"I used to play video games a lot. Now, I ride my bicycle a lot with my friends. I learned to play sports more. I play baseball, and football's starting soon," he adds.

"His hormone levels have come down," says his mom, adding that Mitchell hopes to join a junior lifeguard program.

And, Mitchell says, exercising will be a lifelong habit for him now.

That's exactly what Barrows, 34, hopes to hear from his patients in the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at the Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical, where he treats diabetes, early puberty and thyroid, adrenal or growth disorders.

Many patients are overweight or obese, he says. Type 2 diabetes, once adult-onset, is now seen in children as young as 8 years old, with obesity the main factor, Barrows says.

Healthy nutrition and exercise can combat this, but children often tell him they're too busy to exercise because of school, homework and friends, he says.

So Barrows shares his schedule: As a doctor, he works at least 40 hours a week, and up to 80 hours during the two weeks each month he's on call for emergencies. Summer weekends, he's also a lifeguard in Sea Girt, the 12th year he's done that.

Exercise? He swims two hours daily, four or five days a week. He rows a surfboat two hours a day, three or four days a week — year-round, no matter the weather — with rowing partners Mike Spiegel of Ocean Township and Bob Smolenyak of West Long Branch. In the summer, he paddles a paddleboard and a surf-ski for an hour a day, two or three times a week.

Barrows also may say he's a competitive rower with Jersey Shore Rowing Association. He may say that last August, he won twice at the United States Lifesaving Association National Lifeguard Championships in California:

He took third place in the USLA International Ironman contest. He won the American Ironman contest in the 30-to-34 age group: a quarter-mile swim, a third of a mile surfboard paddling, a half-mile of rowing, and a quarter-mile beach run between each of those. He'll compete Aug. 9-11 this year with Monmouth County's team in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"No doubt he's a good model for the kids. He's a good role model for the guys on the beach," says Timothy Harmon, president of the USLA Monmouth County Chapter and chief lifeguard in Sea Girt.

"He's a quiet individual. When you see him in the water, he kind of shows you what he's all about," says Harmon, 36, of Sea Girt, adding the competition "shows he's very well-rounded in his skills."

But Barrows doesn't tell children to think about being national-class athletes.

"I tell them to set attainable goals so they stay motivated, whether that goal is to lose a certain amount of weight or to join a sport," he says.

Children 5 to 9 receive individual home-exercise programs. Children 10 and older work with trainers at area gyms. A staff nutritionist works with families.

"He's very positive and good with the kids. Mitchell's the kind of kid who's full of questions, and Dr. Barrows explains it all to him," Johnson says.

"I tell parents it's a team effort, and it has to be a blame-free environment. I tell children that they're the team leader," he says.

"I did incorporate it for the whole family," Johnson says. "It's portion control, more physical activity, less processed food, and we don't eat dessert after 7:30 (p.m.)."

Barrows, who began swimming and playing sports at age 6 and swimming competitively at 8, first became a lifeguard at 15. His medical speciality came about because of a young patient.

"I always liked children, but I was doing an internship . . . I was taking care of a child who had terminal cancer. He was 7. I was having a discussion with his mother, and he was in and out of consciousness.

"She asked if I was going to be a pediatrician or an "adult' doctor," Barrows says. "The little boy, Darin, said, "You'd make a better pediatrician.' He made up my mind."

Barrows had seen an epidemic of obesity among children and knew there were few pediatric endocrinologists. He's one of probably fewer than 10 in New Jersey now, he says.

"I didn't foresee this, but I'm really thankful to be in this position. I feel very fortunate to be helping these children," he says.

Bobbi Seidel: (732)643-4043 or bobbi@app.com

(STAFF PHOTOS: PETER ACKERMAN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER)Dr. Mike Barrows (center) and Mike Spiegel (left) of Ocean Township and Bob Smolenyak (right) of West Long Branch, row on the Branchport Creek in Long Branch. Barrows is not only a rower, but is a pediatric endocrinologist.

Dr. Mike Barrows (right) and rowing partner Bob Smolenyak of West Long Branch row in the Branchport Creek in Long Branch, during a regular training session.

In his Lakewood office, pediatric endocrinologist Mike Barrows treats Jenna Williams, 18, of Oceanport, who has diabetes.