As a parent, We want our children to be healthy, active, doing daily chores, and happy in day-to-day life. One way to encourage our kids to incorporate healthy habits into their daily routines is using the Apple Watch.
Using a smartwatch like, Fitbit (a proper fitness tracker) or Apple Watch can help them to track their activity levels, monitor sleep, and set reminders for healthy snacks or drinks.
In the below article, we’ll explore how to use the Apple Watch to promote healthy habits for kids.
1. Track Activity Levels
Tracking daily fitness routines is essential for young children and teenagers, as it teaches them discipline and instills a sense of a healthy lifestyle in them. Previously in our article, smartwatches for Kids, we have covered why a smartwatch could be essential for kids; you should read that article.
Apple Watch is an excellent smartwatch with many handy features—some of the features we like the most are sleep tracking and built-in fitness tracking activities. Children can use exercises like running, cycling, swimming, and walking and watch their progress throughout the day, week, or month.
>> Also, find out the best Apple Watch for Kids.
Parents can set goals for their children and encourage them to help them reach their goals. We also love that Apple Watch supports this feature where Children can compete with friends or family members to see who can achieve the most daily activity.
2. Monitor Sleep
For children and teenagers, getting enough sleep is essential, which directly affects their health and well-being. We have experience using the Apple Watch and know it can help parents monitor their child’s sleep patterns and ensure they get enough rest each night.
By tracking sleep duration and quality using Apple Watch’s Sleep tracking feature, parents can quickly identify any sleep issues affecting their child’s sleep at night or day and take essential steps to address and eradicate them.
3. Set Reminders for Healthy Snacks or Drinks
According to experts and pediatric dietitians, children must eat a balanced diet and stay hydrated throughout the day to lead a healthy life without any health implications.
The Apple Watch can help parents set daily reminders without missing crucial meals for healthy snacks or drinks, ensuring their child fulfills their daily nutrient needs to stay healthy.
>> Also, find out the best Phone for Kids, and recommend kids’ cameras.
For example, parents can remind their children daily to drink enough water every hour or have a piece of fruit as a mid-morning snack so that they don’t miss their daily calorie intake.
4. Use the Breathe App
We really love the Breathe app on the Apple Watch. Breathe app can help children manage stress and anxiety by taking deep, calming breaths. The Apple Watch app guides users through deep breathing exercises, which we have tried and felt very calm after completing the breathing practice. It really helps calm the mind and reduce stress levels.
Using the Breathe app regularly teaches children to manage their emotions and develop healthy coping mechanisms; we highly recommend this exercise for kids, and make sure to add it to your kids’ daily routine.
5. Compete with Friends or Family Members
We, as parents, know Children are usually motivated by competition, and the Apple Watch, with plenty of games, features, apps, and rewards, can help harness this motivation to encourage healthy habits.
By using and leveraging their kid’s infatuation toward rewards, parents can set up challenges for their children to compete with friends, siblings, or older family members, such as who can achieve the most activity in a short period of time or get the most hours of sleep.
These challenges can definitely help children stay motivated and engaged in their healthy habits.
6. Create Custom Activity Challenges
We have tried this and recommend parents to try this with their kids. The Apple Watch allows parents to create custom activity challenges that are fun for their children, such as completing a certain number of steps daily or burning a certain number of calories after eating fast food or before going to bed.
Parents can easily personalize these challenges to fit the child’s age, interests, and fitness level, and it can be a fun way to encourage your kids to stay active most of the time and engage in their healthy habits.
7. Use the Apple Health App
I am 30 years old and find the health app as a comprehensive wellness tracker. The Apple Health app, a default fitness app on the Apple Watch, is a valuable tool for parents to track their child’s health and wellness.
It can track everything from activity (walking, swimming, running, trekking) and sleep patterns to heart rate and hydration levels (recommended daily water consumption).
By using the app regularly, parents can quickly identify areas where their child may need adequate support and adjust their daily routine as needed.
8. Set up Screen Time Limits
According to reputable journals and research scholars, excessive screen time can negatively affect children’s health, including increased risk of obesity (which may lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol) and decreased physical activity( which may lead to cardiovascular diseases and bone health problems).
The Apple Watch can help parents monitor their child’s screen time and set limits to ensure they are not spending too much time in front of screens. You can also use parental control apps to set screen time limits across all devices.
Parents can encourage their children to engage in more physical activity, do daily chores which teach discipline, engage in social activities, and develop healthier habits by setting screen time limits.
9. Customize the Watch Face
The Apple Watch allows kids to customize the watch face according to their liking with various widgets and apps – including cartoon faces, animal faces, and funny characters.
Parents can customize their child’s watch face to have widgets for activity tracking, reminders for healthy habits, and other health-related apps. By customizing the watch face, parents can make it easier for their children to access the tools they like most and the information they need frequently to stay healthy.
10. Use the Watch as a Reward System
We used the reward system to motivate my team member’s kids, and it was fun for me and the kids. The Apple Watch can be a reward system to encourage children of various ages to engage in healthy habits and daily routines.
For example, parents can reward their children with less screen time or a special surprise gift, like their favorite meal or time to play their favorite game to reach their daily activity goal or get a certain amount of sleep each night. This type of positive reinforcement by parents or guardians can help children develop healthy habits early in life and stick to them throughout their life.
Reading books is another healthy habit which should be encouraged by parents. Also, Apple watch and iOS devices have plenty of reading apps, learning new things and educational apps, which can be helpful for developing Literacy and motor skills. Another healthy way for kids is to engage with toys and art activity.
Parents can also read books to improve their parenting skills and get to know about positive parenting and learn about parenting.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we think that Apple Watch can be a powerful tool for parents to promote healthy habits in children. By using features such as custom activity challenges, the Apple Health app, screen time limits, customizing the watch face, and using the watch as a reward system, parents can help their children develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime.
Parvinder Singh is a seasoned IT developer and network engineer with over 5 years of experience. He is also a skilled tech columnist, offering insights on the latest trends and developments in the tech industry.