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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Fitbits for children?!?

62 replies

manicinsomniac · 15/04/2016 18:40

Has anyone else noticed this suddenly become a thing?

I've had two children in two separate classes wearing them in school today (both Y6 children, age 10). They might have had them for ages but I'm not very observant. When I asked them if they were fitbits they had on, other children started saying they either have them at home or want them.

I might be being paranoid due to personal and family experiences with eating disorders but I think they're really inappropriate for children to have. I haven't said anything to the children obviously, because it's up to their parents and nothing to do with me. But instinctively, I don't like the idea.

AIBU?

OP posts:

catewood21 · 15/04/2016 18:45

When my eldest was in primary, the school lent pedometers out to Y4,5 and 6s for a week each year. Is this so different?

blueskyinmarch · 15/04/2016 18:47

I think it s a great idea. It encourages kids to be more active and the whole family can get involved in challenges. We are quick to complain about our youngsters becoming a nation of couch potatoes. This is a perfect way to get them interested in moving more and improving their fitness.

soapboxqueen · 15/04/2016 18:49

I had one for ds but it was to see if we could track his stress levels before a meltdown. Didn't work, he just threw it when he got overwhelmed.

Lunar1 · 15/04/2016 18:50

Pedometers have been encouraged in ds1's class. There are two children that are very overweight and they are trying to make moving more a class thing.

40somethingwonderful · 15/04/2016 18:50

I agree withblueskyinmarch

Timeforabiscuit · 15/04/2016 18:50

I noticed leap pad doing an activity band type thing now, and I think it's easy to underestimate how much activity a child does nowadays as they seem to barely have enough time to eat lunch let alone play at school.

I would raise an eyebrow but nothing intrinsically wrong with it.

curren · 15/04/2016 18:51

Yabu. They don't encourage eating disorders. They promote movement. You can use them to log your food so you can see calories in vs calories out but you don't have to.

ChrissyHynde · 15/04/2016 18:52

I was thinking of one for my DS's 12th birthday in October. He loves being active and to have the ability to monitor himself would really appeal to him .

chipsandpeas · 15/04/2016 18:52

depends on how you use them, if you just look at them as a means of tracking exercise/steps then its a good idea
dont use them for tracking food

Timeforabiscuit · 15/04/2016 18:52

Doh overestimate!

CocktailQueen · 15/04/2016 18:53

Banned in our lower school, in case they get lost, and because dc were fiddling with them all the time. Banned in middle schools here too.

Hulababy · 15/04/2016 19:00

14y DD has one. I also know a 10y with one (y6)

I see no problem with them, and wouldn't link them to eating disorders. They can encourage fitness and movement. They aren't linked to diet. DD's doesn't mention calories on any of the settings as far as I am aware. There is probably a food tracker on the app/website you can use alongside them - but neither dd nor her younger friend use any form of food tracking.

Not banned in either of their schools, nor in my school. They are treated like a watch, which are allowed.

Blueberry234 · 15/04/2016 19:02

My 5 year old likes to wear mine to see how many steps he can do he won't have one of his own yet!

ihearttc · 15/04/2016 19:09

DS1 is in Y6 and has one. He absolutely loves it and has really encouraged him to up his activity. Although he already does sport he also enjoys playing xbox but I often find him running up and down the stairs to get his steps up.

We got it to track his sleep mainly as he was struggling to get to sleep at night.

mirrorballs · 15/04/2016 19:13

DD aged 4 has a leapband, she has to move more to earn points and look after a pet on it, more points she gets she gets treats for her pet or can get new animals. I like it, it encourages activity and movement

Wolfiefan · 15/04/2016 19:16

I wouldn't worry about eating disorders unless it's set up to calculate calories eaten/burnt. As a step counter it's an incentive to move about and increases awareness of how active they are.

BennyTheBall · 15/04/2016 19:17

One of mine has one and the other has an Apple watch which does the same sort of thing.

I think they're great.

Original poster

manicinsomniac · 15/04/2016 19:33

Okay, fair enough, I'm unreasonable. Will chill out.

I thought they were all set up for exercise, sleep AND calories. If calories isn't a default then that's better.

OP posts:

Ozwizard · 15/04/2016 19:45

My teen ds has one. He gets excited about how many steps he's going to do in a day at school. I'm surprised that it's 9,347 as I thought most of the day is spent sitting down in class!! Mind you he does also walk to school and back. I think it encourages excercise and activity. No harm done.

Katz · 15/04/2016 19:52

My 10 year old has one, she bought it with her Christmas money. We disabled the calories tracker bit in the Al. She likes seeing how many floors she's gone up and how many steps. All four (DH DD1 DD2 and I) of us have some form of step counter and we have friendly family competitions into who's done the most. DD2 (the 10 year old) generally wins. She is very active and averages over 14000 steps a day and her walk to school only takes 10 mins. I think there great. aDd1 now does more exercise to try and beat dD2.

GabiSolis · 15/04/2016 19:58

I have a Charge HR and you can set it up to display what you want on the band display, so although calories burned is an option you can manually change this so it isn't displayed. My DS doesn't have one yet but I'd be quite happy to buy one for him if he shows interest.

catewood21 · 15/04/2016 22:13

have noticed that teachers on MN seem the most uptight about 'new' technology around children?? wonder why that is? [muses]

EveOnline2016 · 15/04/2016 22:16

Is the Fitbit any different to the Heath app on iPhone 6s

CallarMorvern · 15/04/2016 22:41

DD is 10, yr6 and has asked for one for her birthday. She wants to measure her steps, I think it's a good idea.

GabiSolis · 15/04/2016 22:49

Eve, I have an iPhone 6s and I don't really use the Health app. I think the main reason is that it's not especially useful as a pedometer since you have to carry it with you at all times. I doubt even the most addicted user is unlikely to do that, so it therefore won't give an accurate summation.

The appeal of the Fitbit is that I can put it on like I would a watch and not think about it, it just does the counting for me, rather than me having to remember to pick up my phone whenever I move.

That said, if you have an Apple watch then I guess that does what the Fitbit does, although no one I know has one so I couldn't tell you how accurate it is.

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