The alarming increase of obesity in American children has prompted Withings to unveil a scale that allows parents to weigh babies and toddlers and transmit that and other data to caregivers.
The Withings Smart Kid Scale is designed for children up to eight years old and includes built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. According to officials of the Paris-based company, the child's weight is instantly transmitted to the Withings Baby Companion app, where it can be viewed by a pediatrician or other clinician.
The app also allows parents to keep track of their baby's weight and height over time and compare that to other children of the same gender and age. As well, it allows parents to keep track of feeding times and amounts.
“With the Smart Kid Scale, we’re hoping to bring the same positive outcomes we’ve seen in adults with weigh tracking to the adults of the future," said Cédric Hutchings, Withings' co-founder, in a press release. "We’ve made it very simple for parents to track the weight progress of their children and therefore giving them a tool that will assist in turning their children into healthy adults.”
The scale, which will retail at $179.95, is battery-powered and suitable for travel, officials said. It includes an interlocking basket that can be used to weigh infants and removed when the child becomes a toddler. The app is free and available at Apple's iTunes app store.
Childhood obesity – and the chronic conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems that can occur as a result – has been in the news often lately. During the 20134 International CES earlier this month in Las Vegas, Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said the number of obese children in the United States has risen from 5 percent in 1970 to almost 20 percent today. He also reported that obesity will soon overtake tobacco use as the leading cause of cancer.
The issue has attracted the attention of soft drink giant Coca-Cola, which has launched an advertising campaign targeting childhood obesity, and is also a pet project of First Lady Michelle Obama, who is planning on attending the Building a Healthier Future Summit this March in Washington D.C. to meet finalists in the End Childhood Obesity Innovation Challenge.
