Making sure our children grow up to be healthy and fit is no easy feat in today’s sedentary society of smartphones and social media. It’s more important than ever to actively promote a healthy lifestyle. Although technology can often be blamed for a lack of health and fitness, it can actually help us in raising our children to live more active lives.
In this blog post I’ll be discussing the use of Fitbit activity trackers to help raise children (and teens!) and promote a healthy lifestyle in which exercise and fitness are a part of daily routine.
What is a ‘Fitbit’
Fitbit is a well known tech manufacturer that produces activity trackers and smartwatches. An activity tracker is a sort of watch which can measure all sorts of health data. This data is processed and interpreted directly to your smartphone. Using an activity tracker, you can keep track of your health and activities and thus also improve on them.
The benefits of Fitbits for children
So how can an activity tracker help improve your children’s health?
- Encourage physical activity: A Fitbit activity tracker can give many different challenges to make exercise fun. Health is gamified to promote physical activities with features like step challenges, badges, and goals.
- Sleep monitor: Sleep is a heavily underrated part of a child’s health. It’s absolutely critical to have a healthy sleep. The Fitbit can track this better than anything, and allows for a unique insight in your child’s sleep although there are similarities in comparison between the oura ring and fitbit.
- Teaches responsibility: Using the Fitbit activity tracker also teaches your child responsibility, learning to charge and sync the watch regularly as well as monitoring their own progress.
- Family bonding: Fitbits can be set up using family accounts which can promote family bonding in different ways. Health challenges can be made and adjusted in which families can compete and motivate each other.
Choosing the best Fitbit for your children
Purchasing a Fitbit for your child can be a decent investment, and there’s several things to take into consideration. Firstly is their age, as a Fitbit is generally suited to teenagers above the age of 12. The ‘Ace’ series of Fitbit activity trackers is aimed towards children, however. Take these things into consideration when purchasing a Fitbit for your kids:
- Durability: Kids can be rough with their belongings. Choose a Fitbit model that can withstand a bump or two, or invest in a protective case and screen protector.
- Ease of use: Some Fitbit models are designed to be used by children or teenages. Choose a model that’s easy to use without the need for adult supervision.
- Battery life: Choose a Fitbit that has a suitable battery life for your child’s routine. Some activity trackers can go several days on a charge, while others require daily charging.
- Size and comfort: Make sure the Fitbit is comfortable to wear and has the correct size for your child, as wearing the Fitbit throughout the day is critical to gathering data.
What Fitbit is best for my child?
There’s a few different options when it comes to Fitbit for children. In the list below you’ll find some considerations based on age, budget, and features.
1. Fitbit Ace 3
The Fitbit Ace 3 is suitable for children aged 6 to 13. It’s designed specifically for children and includes smaller straps and cheerful colours. They’re also very budget friendly, coming in at around 50 pounds.
It’s waterproof and can last up to a week on one battery. It lacks some features such as a heart rate monitor, but it keeps track of steps, active minutes, and even has a sleep monitor.
2. Fitbit Inspire 3
The Fitbit Inspire 3 is a great choice for teenagers (ages 10 and up) with a more adult design and slightly more features such as a heart rate monitor. It’s still rather affordable at £ 70. There’s 20 different exercise modes for different sports and activities.
The sleep monitor is somewhat more sophisticated than the Ace 3’s sleep monitor and gives a sleep score based on your child’s sleep at night. It’s waterproof and can be worn while swimming.
3. Fitbit Charge 6
The Charge series is a next step up and has more features such as a GPS tracker for more accurate data especially when walking, running, or cycling. The Charge 6 is the newest addition to the line-up and retails for a little over 110 pounds.
Although this activity tracker is not specifically designed for children, it’s perfectly suitable for teenagers and adults alike. It also includes a stress management index which is perfect for teenagers and young adults.
Keep it comfortable
Fitbit offers a variety of bands in different materials and sizes. Make sure the band is comfortable and adjusted properly, to ensure the data is gathered correctly. If you want your child to wear the Fitbit all day (which gives the best health data of course) then comfort is paramount. Luckily, there are many different Fitbit straps available.
In summary
A Fitbit activity tracker is a great tool for children to foster a habit of health and fitness. It can make physical activity fun and reward your child’s daily activity routine. Make sure to orientate yourself in the different options of Fitbit activity trackers for children and teens.