Tough guy 50 Cent is urging kids to get fit and fight the flab. The platinum-selling rapper – real name Curtis Jackson – hosted a health awareness day in Queens Park on Saturday to try to get youngsters from his old 'hood' to get moving.

Relay races and a bouncy castle emblazoned with a giant picture of the rapper were the order of the day, followed by free turkey or vegi burgers and whole-wheat pasta. The Grammy winner, 34, told the New York Daily News: 'I just want [kids] to be active, move around and be physical. Don't sit in front of a computer all day.

'It's exciting for me to be able to be back in the community in a different way – in a positive way. 'It means something to me to be a positive influence on the kids.' The In Da Club singer, who grew up in Queens, suffered a testing childhood himself and was even shot nine times in a 2000 shooting.

He organised the Forever Young Day through nonprofit youth group, the G-Unity Foundation, and even fellow Queens rapper Lloyd Banks put in an appearance. Banks, 28, said: 'Hopefully, this day can inspire kids to want to be something. I couldn't honestly say where I would have been without music.'