Edited for clarity on 10/22/18, since my original post seems to have been misleading:
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Several months ago, my 8 year old participated in an important all-day assessment. Leading up to the big day, she was experiencing symptoms of anxiety. On the day of the assessment, we let her wear a Charge 2 and taught her to use the relaxation breathing function on her own. It was an invaluable tool in guiding her breathing and refocusing her attention. It gave her the confidence she needed to take on a scary day when we couldn't be with her. It didn't even fit her properly and the function still worked perfectly fine for her.
I am sad to see that the Fitbit Ace does not have something similar to the relax feature. Please add it!!! Today’s kids are more anxious than any previous generation and most of them already know the benefits of mindful breathing.
Many people have said that I am asking for something that can't be done without heart rate sensing. This is not the case. I believe Fitbit could easily create the code for a simple timed-breathing exercise to guide children through regulating their breathing that would not require heart rate sensing IN ANY WAY. They key to the feature's success is the visual cues for inhaling and exhaling at regular intervals. Kids LOVE the circle growing and shrinking around the heart.
Still others have said that Fitbit is focused only on getting kids more active. If that's the case, I'm very disappointed. My Fitbit Charge2 does a lot of things for me besides getting me more active. I would hope that FitBit's goal for a device for kids would be a little more robust and ambitious than a Bluetooth enabled pedometer. The Ace, as it is currently designed, is just that and therefore not worth what Fitbit is charging.
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