While the debate rages as to whether or not children spend too much time online, there are other less obvious facets of technology that have made a positive impact on our children’s health. With medical advances being made by the day, there are a number of ways in which technology can be utilized to assess and monitor the state of health in both adults and children. Before assuming that technology is damaging the upcoming generation, it’s time to take a look at just what those advances are that have helped our children live healthier lives.

Wearable Glucose Monitors

At some point in time, someone, somewhere came up with the idea to create a wearable device that continually monitors glucose levels in the blood without the need for those annoying finger pricks. They may be only an annoyance to adults, but many children find them painful. Wearable glucose monitors are the result of medical device engineering and technology working together to provide a better option for use with both adults and children.

As more and more techies work together with medical professionals, other types of wearables will be developed by companies such as DeviceLab that will enable data on a child’s health to be digitally uploaded to the health provider’s computer in real time. If the child has a life-threatening problem, it can be dealt with immediately, many times more quickly than an ambulance could arrive on scene.

Programs and Apps for Health Awareness

Kids today are getting cell phones at a younger and younger age. This could pose a problem if they were to use it inappropriately during school hours, but what about turning the tables by using that same phone to raise awareness on all things health. From teaching them about food groups and healthy foods to eat to providing educational games on anatomy or the ecology, kids can begin learning in an environment that stimulates their sense of wonder. After all, what kid isn’t fascinated by cell phones? If parents are going to provide them to children in grade school, they might as well download games and apps that will raise the child’s awareness of the world around them.

The World at Their Fingertips

Technology has literally brought the world to their fingertips so kids today have access to a wealth of knowledge that their parents and grandparents weren’t privy to. Just as mobile devices and wearables can help to monitor and assess the state of our children’s health, so too can desktop computers be tied into a healthcare program for kids. There are so many ways in which a young mind can absorb knowledge if taught how to do so using technology as a tool.

Instead of lumping all technology together into something that is ruining the minds of our children, it is necessary to teach them how to use it wisely to enrich their lives and help them to live a healthier lifestyle. Like anything else in life, it isn’t that something is inherently bad but rather how you use it. Technology can be good and conversely, it can be bad. It’s all in how it is employed. So is technology ruining the minds of our kids? Maybe, but then again, maybe it is offering benefits we are only just beginning to understand.

– Article submitted by Carol Trehearn