Oxil, an Australian tech company, has recently launched a new app to boost the health and well-being of adolescent children by enabling them to track food intake, level of activity and potentially, break bad habits.
With 1000 students from South-West Victoria already on-board its trial, the Challenger App offers a competitive-style platform where users can challenge friends or family using the app, reaping rewards and points for newly acquired good habits.
To boost the engagement factor, the app leverages gesture-based surveying, machine learning for identifying habits, intuitive and suggestive algorithms, and instant feedback to the students so they can learn about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
The platform was launched following reports of a rise in obesity and weight-related health problems in the region. A 2015 Deakin Report suggested that across five shires of Victoria’s Great South Coast, including Southern Grampian Shire, 37 per cent of boys and 38 per cent of girls in grade 6 were overweight or obese.
Additional research out of Deakin University and GenR8Change suggested up to 50 per cent of primary school-aged children are overweight and/or are obese.
