{"id":9227,"date":"2020-01-09T08:30:20","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T13:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/?p=9227"},"modified":"2020-01-03T14:04:04","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T19:04:04","slug":"fitness-trackers-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/workout-wednesday\/fitness-trackers-for-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitness Trackers for Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-12\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>The fitness tracker trend is in full swing. But are they right for kids? Learn why you might want to measure kids\u2019 activity levels\u2013and when you shouldn\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-46362\" src=\"https:\/\/www.superhealthykids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AdobeStock_84473072-745x497.jpeg\" alt=\"active kids outside\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Seeing fitness trackers everywhere? That\u2019s no surprise. Between 20-40% of American adults use \u201cwearable fitness devices\u201d or fitness trackers, and the trend is expanding to include kids, too.<\/p>\n<p>Fitness trackers promise a world of ease and progress in physical fitness. They help us make incremental improvements, nudge ourselves to be active, and celebrate personal bests.<\/p>\n<p>But when you watch your eight-your-old bounding across the back yard with his friends, you might struggle to see how the fitness tracker mentality applies to kids.\u00a0Do you want your kids to enter into the tech-heavy world of fitness tracking? Or is it better for them to play and move free of devices?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>When it\u2019s just for fun.<\/strong>\u00a0Healthy, active kids might like to turn fitness trackers into game time. Let them run, jump, tumble, and play, and rack up \u201cpoints\u201d on their trackers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>When you need track your kids\u2019 activity levels for medical reasons.<\/strong>\u00a0Kids with medical conditions as diverse as diabetes to ADHD might benefit from using fitness trackers. Think of trackers as a tool to help you better understand symptoms and promote wellness.<\/li>\n<li><strong>When your teen athlete is working toward specific fitness goals.<\/strong>\u00a0Fitness trackers can help teen athletes improve their performance at a healthy pace.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-46367\" src=\"https:\/\/www.superhealthykids.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AdobeStock_257850262-745x497.jpeg\" alt=\"mom with kids hiking in the woods\" \/><\/figure>\n<h2>When to Say \u201cNo\u201d to Fitness Trackers for Kids<\/h2>\n<p>Wearable devices don\u2019t automatically help your kids, and they might even carry the potential for harm. Here are four times a fitness tracker probably isn\u2019t right for your kids.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Your kid doesn\u2019t want to wear one.\u00a0<\/strong>If a fitness tracker feels like an obligation, your child might come to feel negatively toward physical activity\u2013the opposite of what you\u2019re aiming for!<\/li>\n<li><strong>You\u2019re concerned that your child is focusing too strictly on health.<\/strong>\u00a0If you start to notice what appears to be an excessive focus on exercise and\/or regimented eating habits, a fitness tracker probably isn\u2019t appropriate. In this case, please reach out to your family doctor or pediatrician with your concerns.<\/li>\n<li><strong>You\u2019re having a low-tech moment.\u00a0<\/strong>Technology abounds in our environment, and going without it can feel like a breath of fresh air for you and your kids. If you want your kids to tune in to their surroundings on the trail, for example, leave the fitness trackers at home.<\/li>\n<li><strong>You want to foster a love of physical activity for its own sake.<\/strong>\u00a0One of the biggest benefits of physical activity and exercise is that it makes us feel good. Period. If you want to foster a love of movement and play, you might choose to forgo the system of competition and reward that\u2019s inherent in kids\u2019 fitness trackers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.superhealthykids.com\/kid-fitness\/fitness-trackers-for-kids\/\">www.superhealthykids.com\/kid-fitness\/fitness-trackers-for-kids\/<\/a><\/figure>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The fitness tracker trend is in full swing. But are they right for kids? Learn why you might want to measure kids\u2019 activity levels\u2013and when you shouldn\u2019t. Seeing fitness trackers everywhere? That\u2019s no surprise. Between 20-40% of American adults use &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/workout-wednesday\/fitness-trackers-for-kids\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9193321,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-workout-wednesday"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paB9fc-2oP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9193321"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9227"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9230,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9227\/revisions\/9230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/healthyhorizons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}