Fitness and health trackers designed especially for little children have achieved a certain level of popularity in last few years. Decline in physical activity of kids along with an increase in obesity have triggered the gain of popularity for these smart wearables.
There are a lot of contributing factors for growing risk of obesity I children. These factor include everything from diet, psychological factors, lack of physical activity to family history and many more.
Obesity has increased around the world almost three times since the 1970s. More than 400 million adolescents and children ranging from ages 19 to below are considered obese. The latest reports from World Health Organization suggest this problem is not exclusive to only high income per capita countries. During the year 2016, more than half of the overweight children around the world belonged to Asia and about a quarter belonged to Africa as well.
“The view that physical activity is high in children and does not decline until adolescence – and even then chiefly among girls – continues to be widely held among policymakers and practitioners around the world,” stated Professor John Reilly. He is a Professor at Strathclyde’s School of Psychological Sciences & Health. “As a result, policies and practices aimed at promoting activity have focused on adolescent girls, who are seen as a group at high risk group of low and declining physical activity; our study indicates that, while the relative decline is greater among girls, there is no one high risk group. All children face a high risk and physical activity needs to be promoted to them – and their parents – before they even start school.”
Children need to have some physical activity for at least an hour every day. Anything from aerobic exercise to vigorous-intensity exercise can be helpful in that case. To the shock of many, around 80% of the kinds between ages 11 to 17 around the world fail to meet this target.
“Higher levels of what is defined as moderate to vigorous physical activity in children improve their bone health, brain development and learning, levels of body fatness, cardiovascular and metabolic health and sleep,” Reilly added. “However, despite these many important benefits, only a minority of children and adolescents meet recommended levels of physical activity.”
Fitness trackers and activity monitors may not be very popular amongst kids despite their popularity amongst adults but may be it’s about time we try to make them a commonplace amongst kids as well because they can prove to be very helpful in teaching young kids about the importance of staying fit.
