Parents have concerns including whether their child’s growth is proper, or whether they have baby fat or unhealthy fat.
But a new device called pedometer may help answer all those nagging questions for them. The pedometers readings coupled with vital statistics like blood pressure, body mass index and waist-hip ratio serve as an early indicator for various health problems the child could face in the future.
Says HoD, Preventive Cardiology, Asian Heart Institute, Dr Ashish Contractor, “If the readings are low indicating that the child is not active. We can then provide counseling either in a group setting or individual setting for the child to get physically active.”
And for the 300 children of a school in Navi Mumbai who have strapped up their pedometers, it is as engaging an exercise as basketball.
Says a student, Tarun Tyag, “We feel like trendsetters. It feels good.”
All the students have to do is just fill in their vital statistics on the forms, simply keep a log of their activities every day. And for the school, it is to go ahead tailoring health intervention programs.
“The data will help us check obesity in our children,” says Principal, Fr Agnel Multipurpose School and Junior College, S Almeida.
