New technology is helping motivate and teach children the importance of staying healthy. Time Warner Cable News’ technology reporter Adam Balkin filed this report.

It is a reminder and a helper. Come to think of it, it is kind of like a parent on a child’s wrist, encouraging him or her to make healthy choices throughout the day.  It’s the X-Doria KidFit activity tracker. Just like the one mom or dad may have, this one counts steps, miles moved and sleep.

The big difference from adult trackers is how the goals are setup. There are preset goals like walk a mile a day, walk three miles in a day, 20 miles in a week. But what parents will likely love is the ability to set their own goals, either how much their child moves or how much they sleep and they can attach rewards to those goals, like video game time for completing a task.

For the child, it is simple to keep track of how they are doing. When they one-touch sync with a mobile device, a score pops up. The daily goal is to hit at least 100.  They can also drill down to see how they are doing in a wide range of individual targets set for them.

The KidFit band costs $50; the companion app is free on iOS and Android devices.

Kurbo is an app for kids and teens that tracks what they eat and helps them make healthier choices, even lose weight if they would like.

Based on more than two decades of research from Stanford and SUNY Buffalo, it is a pretty simple concept. Just like a traffic light, every type of food gets a color. If a food is green, that means you can eat all you want of it, yellow eat in moderation, and red is the stuff you should stay away from. However, it is not all about deprivation so you get about six reds a day, and it’s up to you to decide when to burn them.

There are badges of encouragement you earn in the app for doing well or when you accrue enough points through actions like playing games. The games help reinforce which foods are which colors.

Kurbo is a free app for iOS and Android devices, though it is designed to work with personal coaches who contact you live via either video chats or text message. That part will cost a monthly fee.