Health band: Top trend in the childcare space

Fitness trackers or health bands have been around for years, well more than a decade even in the Indian market. These are smart digital devices with a display that tells us our vital statistics such as pulse, oxygen concentration, calories burnt and number of steps taken. They combine timers, alarms and schedulers, and often watches, to keep track of physical activities. But kid-friendly designs and a simpler set of features have become a manufacturing focus only recently. That is because health band demands have gone up sharply since the pandemic hit us, especially children’s products. 

How did brands promote the kids’ trend?   
Back in 2016, Garmin was one of the first big tech brands to release the Vivofit Jr. for kids. Since then, it has brought out the VivoFit Junior 2, and hiked promotions between 2019 and 2021, keeping their current offering Vivofit Jr. 3 in mind. Their competitor Fitbit has followed suit, with the Fitbit Ace in 2018 and the Fitbit Ace 2 coming out in May 2019. And now Fitbit Ace 3 is flooding the market.  While these two are the top sellers on all platforms, there’s also GOQii, Fastrack, moreFit Kids and a whole host of others. 

Do the products vary brand to brand?  
In one word, yes. The features of all wearable smart gadgets, including health bands, differ from brand to brand.  Some are focused solely on activity, others are mini smartwatches, with lots of features on offer and in case kids wearable, the focus is often on location with strong GPS capabilities. The strapping patterns, design, display type, waterproofing, all vary, and most brands have age specific bracketing 5 years upward.  

Do kids need a health band?  
While sales statistics for health bands are not uncontested, there is no controversy on two things: fitness trackers for kids are selling more and kids have become more open to health hazards. A World Health Organization (WHO) report for 2020 tells us that physical activity levels have fallen for 81% of adolescents between 11 to 17 and obesity increased for infants (0 to 5 years). If the health band works as a motivation for kids and a tracker for parents, it’s worth it.