In the US, child obesity is an ever-growing concern that’s desperately in need of a remedy. Knowing this, Adidas is now looking to help the cause and, in the process, make it fun for young people to take care of their fitness. The sporting gear company has teamed up with Interactive Health Technologies, whose mission is “empowering individuals to self-manage their health,” to bring its miCoach technology to schools Stateside. A few years ago, IHT began implementing a heart rate monitoring system for gym classes in the US, and now Adidas wants to take that initiative one step further. By combining miCoach’s ability to collect data with IHT’s aforementioned method, Adidas believes students can easily motivate themselves to set and reach individual goals.
At the moment, there are more than 700 schools in the US have added this to their curriculum, with over 250,000 students benefitting from it every day. An Adidas spokesperson said the reception to the heart monitoring system, in tandem with certain miCoach features, has been great — so much so that many students choose to take the IHT wearable device home with them on the weekends. And that’s a good thing, since it means they keep racking up points and staying active; both parents and teachers can monitor each student’s app via a companion application, which is available for PC and and mobile devices. Ultimately, Adidas says the goal is to continue expanding to additional school districts, adding that it’s constantly working to add interesting things to the program — such as rewards and social challenges between schools.
Filed under: Wearables, Internet
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