University under fire for making new students wear Fitbits

Students will be required to use devices like the Fitbit Charge HR, pictured, to track their activity Credit: Fitbit

A university's decision to make students wear Fitbits as part of a 'novel' approach to maintaining the health of its student community has come under fire from critics.

Now eating disorder campaigners are calling for the unusual health initiative to be scrapped, claiming making students track all their physical activity could potentially encourage an unhealthy obsession with exercise and trigger eating disorders.

The university, who introduced the requirement for new students to wear the activity trackers earlier this year said it has included a fitness component in its curriculum for several years as part of its "whole person – mind, body and spirit" approach to education.

A change.org petition against Oklahoma's Oral Roberts University's 'Fitbit initiative', set up by an eating disorders blogger, says the programme "may lead to drawing unfair comparisons between students, creating a one-size- fits-all benchmark for health."

Previously students were expected to manually log aerobics points in a journal but the change in requirements means new students, and existing students who opt in to the program, can use the wearable technology to more accurately log their activity for them.

A statement on the university's website said its physical fitness requirements were something that "sets ORU apart".

Students will be required to use devices like the Fitbit Charge HR, pictured, to track their activity Credit: Fitbit

People have reacted to the petition by posting online comments such as "this is the most shameful idea I have ever seen".

Credit: Change.org
Credit: Change.org

The National Eating Disorders Association also called on people via Twitter to push to get the Fitbit requirement lifted using the hashtag #DontTrackMe.