Hut, hut! Fitness trackers can measure the steps a child walks and miles they bike, all while monitoring vital signs of health. If your child has disordered eating or exercise habits, consult their pediatrician or therapist to see if a fitness tracker would be the proper tool in their care plan. Will your child use the technology without a parent or sibling also tracking their fitness, potentially causing your child to not be as engaged and lose interest?.Is your child likely to break or lose the wearable?.Does your child want one only because their friends have them?.Will a fitness tracker distract your child, especially if they already spend time on other electronics?.Your answers to these questions should reveal whether a fitness tracker is appropriate at this time or if it’s best to put aside the idea, Seibert says. But before you buy a device, Abigail Seibert, PhD, a psychologist in Boston Children’s Optimal Wellness for Life (OWL) Program, advises that you first consider some disadvantages and advantages. Nonetheless, some pediatricians recommend wearables, saying they do lead to improved fitness routines. And the tech companies that manufacture them only recently started to market to young kids. Keep in mind that a recent study on teenagers’ use of fitness wearables observes there isn’t much medical research on the technology’s impact on adolescents and younger children. More importantly, the devices can incentivize children to meet daily goals to move more often.

Wearable devices can count how many footsteps go into those circles.ĭepending on the model, fitness trackers can measure the steps a child walks and the miles they bike, all while monitoring their heart rate, body temperature, and other vital signs of health. (Image: AdobeStock)Įnergetic children run circles around their parents. Some pediatricians recommend wearables, saying they lead to improved fitness routines.

Daily calorie tracker device