Teenagers today need fewer Fitbits and more Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda was right about exercise in her legendary 1982 aerobics videos: “No pain, no gain.” For as the exemplary Fonda knew, unless you “feel the burn” – the pounding heart, the sore muscles, the dripping sweat, the weakness in your limbs – you simply won’t feel the benefits.
It seems that today’s teenagers could do with a few hours of Fonda. They are a generation so glued to screens and sofas that they have to be practically bribed into physical activity – as many parents of these so called “screenagers” know all too well.
The latest idea for getting teenagers fit was to supply them with Fitbits (gadgets that measure the number of steps taken daily) and, at first, it made perfect sense. After all, if modern teenagers live on and for
their digital devices, perhaps strapping snazzy little monitors to their wrists would somehow speak to them – the flashing numbers and digital interface the equivalent of motivational aerobics and neon sweatbands for the Eighties generation.
Alas, it appears not to be the case. Researchers at Brunel University, who monitored 84 students aged 13 to 14 wearing a Fitbit tracker for eight weeks, found that what little novelty the devices had initially provided soon wore off, with any corresponding physical activity falling off a cliff. Another problem was that the Fitbit’s goal of 10,000 steps a day was deemed “unfair” by the teenagers: an objection perfectly suited to the contemporary moral universe. Why get on with something when you can moan about its myriad injustices instead?
The teenagers’ response to fitness by Fitbit also emphasised a depressing fact about human nature. “There wasn’t a desire for our participants to be more active for themselves and their own goals, or for fun,” observed a defeated sounding lead researcher. “It was because they wanted to beat their mates.” Perhaps then the answer is less gadgetry and more Fonda.