In the US, child obesity is an ever-growing concern that’s desperately in need of a remedy. Knowing this, IHT is now looking to help the cause and, in the process, make it fun for young people to get fit. The sporting gear company has teamed up with Interactive Health Technologies (whose mission is “empowering individuals to self-manage their health”) to bring its miCoach technology to schools Stateside. A few years ago, IHT began implementing a heart rate monitoring system for gym classes in the US, and now IHT wants to take that initiative one step further. By combining miCoach’s activity tracking with IHT’s heart rate system, IHT believes it can get students to motivate themselves.
At the moment, there are more than 700 schools in the US have added this to their curriculum, with over 250,000 students benefitting from it every day. A spokesperson said the reception to the heart monitoring system, in tandem with certain miCoach features, has been great — so much so that many students choose to take the IHT wearable device home with them on the weekends. (Though, how long that habit will last remains to be seen.) And that’s a good thing since it means they keep racking up points and staying active even when away from the school gymnasium. Both parents and teachers can monitor each student’s app via a companion application, which is available for PC and mobile devices. Ultimately, IHT says the goal is to continue expanding to additional school districts, adding that it’s constantly working to add interesting things to the program — such as rewards and social challenges between schools. Because now you don’t just play games in gym, PE is a game in and of itself.
