There’s no shortage of fitness trackers out there, including trackers designed specifically for kids. Garmin, Fitbit, and Leapfrog offer trackers intended to make exercise fun by making it quantifiable: the same feature that attracts adults to wear their tracker as they sweat it out at the gym or walk briskly around the neighborhood. However, one brand has designed a unique kids tracking platform explicitly for use in schools as a supplement to physical education programming.
The Moki activity tracking wristband and software allows educators to monitor kids as they exercise. They can use the system to view trend reports, form teams, and create individual, class, and school-wide fitness challenges. Unlike other trackers, the Moki wristbands don’t have a display, reducing distraction and comparison between students.
Childhood obesity is linked to high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which may lead to heart disease later in life. Asthma, sleep apnea, gastrointestinal issues, and joint problems are also associated with childhood obesity. And overweight kids often experience bullying and prejudice, leading to an increased risk for anxiety and depression in childhood and during their adult years.
The British company sees physical education programming in schools as the frontline defense against childhood obesity, recognizing that primary school children spend nearly half their day in school. School also offers an opportunity to equalize activity levels for low-income students and girls. These groups typically get less exercise than boys and kids from higher economic backgrounds due to social expectations, finances, and other factors.
Data collected from more than 1,200 children wearing the Moki wristband shows that activity levels vary significantly between students. The data also indicates that a robust physical education curriculum can lead to higher student activity levels. Teachers and parents report having no awareness of these gaps before viewing reports from the Moki system; the Moki dashboard helps teachers quickly identify less active students and respond to activity gaps with inclusive solutions.
Highlighting concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to negatively impact physical activity levels, Moki presents their platform as a tool to keep kids moving throughout the crisis and to equalize healthy activity across all demographics.
