Activity Trackers for Kids on the Rise

Award them points for improving health

There are already plenty of weight loss apps, gadgets and devices that assist adults in tracking their health, but now that 1 in 3 American kids are overweight or obese, activity trackers for children are on the rise, too. Zamzee is a $30 product developed by HopeLab, a California nonprofit dedicated to using technology to improve health. Shaped like a toy car, the device counts kids' minute-to-minute activity and then, via the accompanying website, awards them 'Pointz.' A study found that of the 448 middle-school-aged children using the Zamzee monitors, those with access to the website got an average of 45 minutes more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week than kids in the control group. It’s a competition any kid can be good at, says HopeLab’s Richard Tate. “You don’t need to be an athlete. You can dance around your room." (Washington Post)

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