Thousands of obese children will soon experience unusual technical convenience. As part of the National Child Obesity Prevention Program, those interested will receive a bracelet with an application that will motivate them to eat and drink more healthily. “And if, on the other hand, they eat badly, the application will also warn them about it,” Lucie Mandelová from the National Screening Center told Aktuálně.cz.
“As a country, we have a really big problem in that there is an increase in overweight children, for whom advice like ‘eat healthy’ does not work,” admits Lucie Mandelová from the National Screening Center in Brno.
According to her, it is necessary to find new ways to interest children and lead them to exercise and healthy eating. One such way is a project that was created in cooperation between her workplace, the Institute of Health Information and Statistics and the Czech Technical University.
“A thousand selected children between the ages of 6 and 11 will have a fitness bracelet connected to a mobile application, in which they and their parents will record their energy intake. They will also go for regular check-ups with a general practitioner for children for one year,” explains Mandelová, adding that that with the help of the bracelet they will also monitor the children’s energy expenditure.
The authors of the project want children to be really interested in playing sports and eating healthier, so they have also prepared rewards for them. “The application will be playful. If the child meets the energy intake and expenditure, he will collect points and characters, which can motivate him to change,” he says. Children could also use the offer of various sports grounds or clubs. But the application will not only praise. If the child drinks too many sugary drinks, the app prompts him to drink water instead.
It is not yet clear when the first children will put on the bracelet and start the special application. According to experts, children need to be selected in cooperation with general practitioners.
Last year, Aktuálně.cz brought a report from a children’s hospital in Křetín, South Moravia, where they try to help overweight children. If they remain overweight into adulthood, they are at greater risk of diabetes, cancer and other serious diseases.
At the same time, the number of obese children continues to increase. According to the Association of General Practitioners for Children and Adolescents, in 2021 roughly a quarter of children had problems with being overweight, and 16 percent of them were obese. Five years earlier, there were only 10 percent of them. “Previously, the child weighed 90 kilos and we were already surprised. Today they weigh much more,” said pediatrician Kateřina Bednaříková in the report.
Video: Children will collect points and figures, says an expert about the bracelet against children’s overweight
Lucie Mandelová from the National Screening Center in Brno described to Aktuálně.cz how children should use a bracelet against overweight and obesity. | Video: Radek Bartoníček
Tags: Youd water Obese children receive bracelet monitor motivate
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