In recent days, the company Fitbit announced the arrival of a new model to its wide range of bracelets and gadgets to measure physical activity: Fitbit Ace, its first product aimed exclusively for children.
The publication of the news in various media has opened a new debate: Is it necessary for children to wear a bracelet that measures and records the physical activity they perform daily? We analyze the different points of view.
Fitbit Ace, a quantifying bracelet for children
Probably most of the people have heard about Fitbit, that famous wrist band that keeps track of all our physical activity and presents us with a summary of the goals we are reaching each day.
Originally, Fitbit only handled quantifying bracelets for people from the age of 13, but a few days ago announced that it would soon reach the market its first exclusive product for children from 8 to 13 years old, the new Fitbit Ace.
According to information on its website, this new bracelet will monitor the steps and keep track of the minutes of activity and sleep. The main objective is that motivate children to activate in a fun way and help them reach the 60 minutes of daily activity recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Through the bracelet, Children will receive reminders to encourage them to stay active and also show congratulations when they exceed their daily goals. The progress of each child can be reviewed through an application for the whole family, in which parents can keep the record of each member through a family account.
In addition to keeping track of physical activity and motivating them to move more during the day, the bracelet will monitor the hours and quality of sleep, counting on reminders to remind them to go to sleep and will have the option of setting a silent vibration alarm.
It is not the first device created for this purpose
It is important to mention that although it has been relevant news and that it has caused some controversy and divided opinions, it is not the first quantifying bracelet created exclusively for children. According to information on the UNICEF Kid Power website, There are currently several devices like these for children on the market.
UNICEF has even created a quantifying bracelet for children, the UNICEF Kid Power Band, which in addition to motivating them to perform physical activity, helps children learn about other cultures through missions in the mobile application. Further, Every time children accumulate a certain amount of points for the number of steps they take, UNICEF donates food packages to underprivileged children.
Really necessary or just one more device to the list?
As I commented at the beginning of this article, with the launch of the new Fitbit Ace, various opinions came about it. I must accept that my reaction when reading the announcement of this quantifying bracelet for children, was to assume that it was something totally absurd and, above all, unnecessary. "Are not too many devices at your fingertips to have another that will also be attached to them day and night?", I thought.
Looking for opinions on this subject, I found an article in The Guardian in which they questioned precisely that tendency in recent years to monitor everything we do through devices and that this "control" is something that gives us a false sense of comfort . Your recommendation instead of buying a Fitbit for children, it was simply that parents motivate them to play more and remind them that they are loved.
But on the other hand, there is something that they mention on the UNICEF Kid Power page about quantifying bracelets for children: we live in an era in which children are surrounded by screens such as mobiles, tablets or televisions, so a device that helps them understand and practice the value of maintaining an active life, which is the opposite of what happens with the aforementioned screens, if it becomes something necessary. They even suggest that instead of giving them a tablet, they are given a quantifying bracelet.
It is important to promote an active life since childhood
Regardless of all Fitbit in the world, we must remember that Our job as parents is to educate and raise our children to have a healthy life, and an important part of this is staying active as a family. When children practice sports, they obtain various benefits both for their health, as well as for their education and self-esteem.
The best we can do for our children to adopt healthy habits is to set an example. If in addition to this, we decided to rely on a device that encourages them to stay active, there should be no problem, but the responsibility of doing so is ours and not of a bracelet.
Photos | Fitbit, iStock
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