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Yay or Nay: Child Fitness Monitors
MorningGrace73
Posts: 36 Member
in Debate Club
I am the mother of a 7 year old, very active and healthy boy that I've thankfully never had to worry about health-wise. He prefers veggies to eating out, is very active and likes water over juice! Personally, I'd never invest in a product such as this (simply due to lack of need) but learning of it has caused me to wonder whether I think its a good idea or not.
https://www.fitbit.com/shop/ace?utm_source=&utm_medium=paidsearch&gclid=CjwKCAjw06LZBRBNEiwA2vgMVdH18qgJZKSD79y9VPuThtL8FHhzXU5ncEHdshA97oLa9eSP35u9hhoCbtIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CN7DlZSm4NsCFVM6TwodGZgFlg
Activity monitors for kiddos age 8 and up! I am curious to hear the thoughts of the community on this! On one hand, for our kiddos that are far more sedentary than others, might have a hard time being motivated to going outside, or perhaps even over eat on sweets and crap food - I can see this being a wonderful tool.
On the other hand, getting into adolescence and all the unattainable images girls and boys see and the impacts to body image, could this potentially be a tool that could further damage a child's self image?
https://www.fitbit.com/shop/ace?utm_source=&utm_medium=paidsearch&gclid=CjwKCAjw06LZBRBNEiwA2vgMVdH18qgJZKSD79y9VPuThtL8FHhzXU5ncEHdshA97oLa9eSP35u9hhoCbtIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CN7DlZSm4NsCFVM6TwodGZgFlg
Activity monitors for kiddos age 8 and up! I am curious to hear the thoughts of the community on this! On one hand, for our kiddos that are far more sedentary than others, might have a hard time being motivated to going outside, or perhaps even over eat on sweets and crap food - I can see this being a wonderful tool.
On the other hand, getting into adolescence and all the unattainable images girls and boys see and the impacts to body image, could this potentially be a tool that could further damage a child's self image?
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Replies
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This tracks steps, active minutes, and sleep. For kids who would find this sort of thing motivating, I can't see it being anything but a good thing. It doesn't have the weight management features an adult FitBit has, so I wouldn't be worried about negative impacts on a child's body image.5
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When I went to a Flex 2 I let my son wear my old Flex to see how many steps he took in a typical day. Not surprising to me he came in at around 16,000 steps/day. He's at a healthy weight, strong, and while it seems he eats a lot, he is at a higher level of activity and this includes sitting in class for 7 hrs/day.
Like anything it can be an effective tool if used correctly and wisely.8 -
I don't see the harm in it, especially if the child is excited about it. I remember "stealing" my mothers pedometer when I was a kid, often enough that they bought me my own (probably from the dollar store
) and I thought I was the coolest with it tied to my shoe laces. I was already a very active kid, but it was fun to see how many "points" I could get every day. Unless you're also calorie restricting their diet or trying to make the focus on the weight control aspect of it, I don't think most children would relate it to their body image. 4 -
I’d think it’s a great thing for kids that want then. Anything they find fun or interesting which will get them moving more can only be good.2
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if you are talking about monitoring a "problem" child...no way. in fact omg. play w them..engage them yes. monitor them HELL NO.9
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if you are talking about monitoring a "problem" child...no way. in fact omg. play w them..engage them yes. monitor them HELL NO.
My nephew is a big boy - he's 11 but he's 5'7" and close to 200 lbs. He's pretty active though (plays football, goes hunting & fishing, does some training with his dad (firefighter), but he does wear a Fitbit to stay motivated to try and go above what his norm is. So I wouldn't say "no way"; I'd say it just depends on the child. My guy loves challenging himself! He'll even ask his mom, dad or one of his sisters on occasion to go for a walk to hit his "personal" target (not the standard 10K).2 -
It would be just a toy. A thing of interest to some.
My middle son used to use a step counter when he was around 8. He loved gadgets. It was of no use for encouraging fitness or weight loss.
But our step counter was a gift after running a 5K race. Not a $100 gadget. My guess is that it would mostly be a waste of money.0 -
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My 10yo is super excited about this! I actually contacted Fitbit last year saying they should make one for kids, and I'm glad they listened. We've been using our Fitbits for 1.5 year now and she's been wanting one forever, but the kid options are basically junk.
It can be a good reminder for kids to get moving, instead of watching TV... I'm all for it. She thinks it's a fun tool (she has NO weight issue at all) and likes competing with us for steps... I'm just cringing a bit at the price tag so she'll have to wait for Christmas or something...2 -
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If someone wants to spend the money on a fitness tracker for their child I don't think it would be harmful as long as the parents keep it positive. If the adults make using such a device competitive, punishing and negative instead of fun gadget and a reminder to be active then it could be damaging. That could be said about putting your child in sports or PE classes though too.
I would not spend that much on an activity tracker with all the bells and whistles for a child. I'd get a less expensive simple pedometer that they could break or lose without it being a big deal. I generally think kids need less gadgets to pay attention to.
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I'd rather see a kid with that then tethered to a video game2
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MorningGrace73 wrote: »I am the mother of a 7 year old, very active and healthy boy that I've thankfully never had to worry about health-wise. He prefers veggies to eating out, is very active and likes water over juice! Personally, I'd never invest in a product such as this (simply due to lack of need) but learning of it has caused me to wonder whether I think its a good idea or not.
https://www.fitbit.com/shop/ace?utm_source=&utm_medium=paidsearch&gclid=CjwKCAjw06LZBRBNEiwA2vgMVdH18qgJZKSD79y9VPuThtL8FHhzXU5ncEHdshA97oLa9eSP35u9hhoCbtIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CN7DlZSm4NsCFVM6TwodGZgFlg
Activity monitors for kiddos age 8 and up! I am curious to hear the thoughts of the community on this! On one hand, for our kiddos that are far more sedentary than others, might have a hard time being motivated to going outside, or perhaps even over eat on sweets and crap food - I can see this being a wonderful tool.
On the other hand, getting into adolescence and all the unattainable images girls and boys see and the impacts to body image, could this potentially be a tool that could further damage a child's self image?
As a God-parent, I'm in favour of these health & fitness wearables for children. As rare as it is - myocardial infarction amongst teens and children (here and abroad) during training sessions or when playing a sport (over the past 5 years - due to cardiac abnormalities or heat exhaustion) was what came to mind, at seeing your discussion topic earlier today.
ETA: I'm an ardent believer that conscious healthy habits and general awareness of an active outdoor lifestyle, if it is to be punctuated and is to be encouraged accessorising child/ren with these sorts of gadgets - is tantamount to progressive nurturing.1 -
Many kids I know (personal life and work) wear activity trackers/watches. They seem to be great at getting them moving--many have it connected to an app of some sort that turns it in to a game (so many steps gets them to new levels, or get certain rewards or abilities on the game)
I know a few of the older kids (9/10/11) have adult ones that give calorie info, but most of the kids don't care about that bit or are completely clueless as to what it means.1 -
Gamification of exercise can be a fun way to get the family moving and we've seen it's popularity - Playing sports in school, Nintendo Wii, Pokemon Go. Collecting steps and competing with friends and family isn't much different, this is just a decent tool to let you do that.
I can think of some cons though, but it's going to depend on the child and family dynamics - a child's attention span and longevity of interest. Is this something that's going to be cool for 3 weeks, then ignored? Are parents going to push this on kids with weight issues and use it as an incentive in a way that creates stress for the child? Will kids be punished or ostracized if they don't move enough in a day?3 -
My kids have Garmin VivoFit Jrs and we like to compare steps and who has more... On Saturday if we get 10K steps we go out for ice cream and if not we don't. I don't see an issue with this, it's not like I'm putting them on a diet and they were really interested in my FitBit when they didn't have a tracker and I did.2
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To the debate at hand, I think it greatly depends on the child and the motivation of the parent buying it.2
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I appreciate all the feedback and it sounds like for the most part, people support the idea so long as a stigma isn't applied by someone else. The only thing that keeps me from getting one for my kiddo, other than the price, is his amazing ability to lose everything! I can get him a $2 watch, or a $20 watch, he will lose both - within a matter of days!0
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MorningGrace73 wrote: »I appreciate all the feedback and it sounds like for the most part, people support the idea so long as a stigma isn't applied by someone else. The only thing that keeps me from getting one for my kiddo, other than the price, is his amazing ability to lose everything! I can get him a $2 watch, or a $20 watch, he will lose both - within a matter of days!
Some are GPS enabled.0 -
777Gemma888 wrote: »MorningGrace73 wrote: »I appreciate all the feedback and it sounds like for the most part, people support the idea so long as a stigma isn't applied by someone else. The only thing that keeps me from getting one for my kiddo, other than the price, is his amazing ability to lose everything! I can get him a $2 watch, or a $20 watch, he will lose both - within a matter of days!
Some are GPS enabled.
Does the GPS allow you to locate a lost watch? I thought it was just to track running routes and the like.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »777Gemma888 wrote: »MorningGrace73 wrote: »I appreciate all the feedback and it sounds like for the most part, people support the idea so long as a stigma isn't applied by someone else. The only thing that keeps me from getting one for my kiddo, other than the price, is his amazing ability to lose everything! I can get him a $2 watch, or a $20 watch, he will lose both - within a matter of days!
Some are GPS enabled.
Does the GPS allow you to locate a lost watch? I thought it was just to track running routes and the like.
Essentially, if the gadget is inside your home, you'd literally get a ping that it's there (general highlighted ping). You'd have better luck if your child loses it in a playground.
There are Apps you could install on your device, connected to your child's one. It's within the realms of the " find my phone, keys, device" technology. You can even set the device alarm off, so as to locate it with some Apps.0 -
Honestly for young girls I can see this lead to an eating disorder so I’d say if your child is a healthy weight, eating well, and active - I’m against it. But if your child isn’t as healthy then I could see how it may be beneficial.0
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It's just a data collection device. How one chooses to use or interpret the data is where the human factor comes in.2
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kaylaokarski wrote: »Honestly for young girls I can see this lead to an eating disorder so I’d say if your child is a healthy weight, eating well, and active - I’m against it. But if your child isn’t as healthy then I could see how it may be beneficial.
Boys get eating disorders too. I'm not sure why one would consider this appropriate for boys but too dangerous for girls.7 -
My 8 year old twins got Vivofit Jrs for Christmas last year after asking for them for quite a while. Most of the kids in their 2nd grade class had Apple watches, but I said no way to that.
They mostly use it to compare how many steps they got to me, and they often beat me since I have a sedentary job and they are running around all day. There is also an activity minutes target feature, and they do like to close that circle. If they haven't one or both will usually join me on our evening dog walk which is nice.
You can also set it up to get points for doing tasks/chores and then you can set up rewards of your own choosing for earning a certain number of points. I started out doing that but it turned out that it was too much piddly tracking for the return I was getting.
They really only care about the steps and the activity minutes, and that's all we use it for.
ETA: I'll probably jinx myself but they haven't lost them yet. My son has managed to lose something each day so far of their summer day camp (9 days and we are on our THIRD water bottle) but the tracker hasn't been lost yet.
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When I think back to myself as a child, I would have loved something like this. I can imagine myself feeling ecstatic that I got a new gadget. I can also vividly imagine being happy with the color. I would have loved competing with my family and friends for steps. For child me, it would have been the perfect gift, but I'm not every child. You would need to be careful with some of them, so the answer is it depends on the child.2
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I don’t see what the harm could be. It would only encourage more activity in my opinion. For most people anyway. I could see me and my son having competitions.3
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I don’t see what the harm could be. It would only encourage more activity in my opinion. For most people anyway. I could see me and my son having competitions.
The issue is not with the tracker, but with the brand name. If a child is impressionable and already has issues, I can see how wearing something associated with adults who wear them to control their weight may contribute to the issue.2 -
Both of my kids have trackers (ages 16 and 13)... an following the general trend of this thread... I don't think trackers *cause* problems. Can they exacerbate an existing problem? Sure. But the problem likely exists or doesn't regardless of whether or not they have a tracker.3
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