Fitbits make pupils obsessed with exercise, warns head

PARENTS should stop buying children activity trackers such as Fitbits because they could lead to obsessive behaviour, a headmaster has warned.

William Dunlop argued the technology can make children aspire to ‘arbitrary’ health goals to the detriment of their worklife balance. The trackers, worn on the wrist, measure activities such as how far we walk and how much we sleep.

Parents are buying children the devices to help them realise when they are lapsing into unhealthy habits. But Mr Dunlop, head of Clayesmore prep school in Dorset, said tracking our bodies may not be healthy either. He said: ‘Young, impressionable minds are particularly susceptible to obsessive behaviour in pursuit of arbitrary goals.

‘I know of teenagers who will go to bed early because their trackers say they should, and so miss out on events that would be beneficial to them. Responsible, well-meaning parents hear about a perceived problem, childhood inactivity, and are responding to it without examining whether it is actually a problem for their individual child.

‘The solution that many of them are choosing is so engaging and so detailed that it presents unforeseen risks of obsessive behaviour and overwork.’