Can Fitness Trackers Help Florida High School Students Lead A Healthy Lifestyle?

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Fifty students attending Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, FL will be taking part in an innovative study to learn more about the use of Fitbit fitness trackers to help high school students stay active.

Dr. Raquel Hernandez, an assistant professor of pediatrics at  Johns Hopkins Medical School, who works out of the All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL, is the lead researcher of the school-based study, which has been funded by a $100,000 grant from insurer, Florida Blue.

“This is very state-of-the-art. It’s never been done with kids before, and not in the schools,” Janelle Garcia, PhD, the project’s program coordinator said in a Tampa Bay Times article. “We really want to meet them where they are and where their interests are, and that’s with technology.”

According to a Routers article if successful, Hernandez and Garcia hope to expand the program nationally.

“The goal is to test the feasibility,” Garcia said.

While only, fifty overweight students will be wearing the Fitbit wristbands, the entire school will be participating in a broader initiative which will offer students after school fitness boot camps and brown bag lunches that feature health talks. Additionally, the students wearing Fitbits will have the opportunity to meet with nutrition, fitness, and behavioral experts twice a week, during after-school sessions.

According to Routers, Fitbit devices track sleep patterns and can also be synced to MyFitnessPal, an on-line app that is capable of monitoring a person’s physical activity and their daily diet.

Read the full story in the following articles:
Obesity research takes high-tech twist at Florida school
New program at Lakewood High School aims to fight obesity