Many students and teachers are enjoying using the newest technology, a Fitbit! Fitbits come in a variety of colors and models, but their main goal is not to dress your wrist with a stylish new accessory. As the name implies, Fitbits are activity trackers that help make people “fit.”  

Most of the activity trackers include a clock, step counter, calories burned, miles moved and stairs climbed. Additional abilities such as a heart rate monitor, call and text display are seen in the Charge H.R., Surge and Blaze. The trackers also sync to an app on your phone to track movement.

The company likes to emphasize that there is a model of Fitbit for everyone. High level athletes might lean towards the Surge and Blaze, while people who simply enjoy exercising tend to choose the Charge HR, Charge or Flex.

“I chose the Charge model because it was less expensive, and it had all things I wanted to know on it,” said sophomore Margot Crawley.

A feature to the application that many users enjoy are the competitions. Mrs. Lee, PR Spanish teacher, says “I like reaching my goal of 10,000 steps per day, so I make an extra effort to walk around a lot at school and keep moving at home.  Some nights, I walk in place while watching TV just to get more steps to reach my goal.  I would never have done that before getting my Fitbit.”  

Users can also invite friends and family to participate in different competitions that provide healthy competition and motivation to keep moving! Mrs. Lee is in a group of teachers that do “‘Workweek Challenges,’ so it makes it fun to have a little competition as well.”  Junior Alex Piotrowski said, “my challenges motivate me the most. Before I got my Fitbit, I would never have gone outside late at night for walk. So they push me to be active.”

However, many people are concerned about the similarities between our phones and wearable devices such as Fitbits. Phones emit a radiation that is potentially cancerous from the wifi and data signals. While Fitbits do give off a radiation, it not enough to cause any harmful damage according to the University of Utah Health Care.

Ultimately Fitbits do motivate their wearers to increase activity. Sophomore Emma Laurx says, “I want a Fitbit because it would motivate me to work out more and get in shape.”