Tech News: The Fitness Tracker Wave!

Fitness technology, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, is transforming the fitness industry. These devices are expected to generate over $13 billion in revenue this year. Fitbit is one of the leading fitness apps with 31 million active users. More than half of Americans are striving to live healthier lifestyles. Fitness trackers can help encourage physical activity, monitor health parameters, and assist in setting goals. While they are not a substitute for behavioral changes, they can provide personalized interventions. Advancements in health devices could lead to more accurate measurements and reduce medical costs. It's important to take care of ourselves for our health and well-being. This is Shape Up with Keba, a podcast dedicated to all topics health, fitness, and well-being. I'm your host and wellness promoter, Nikeba Evans. The topic for this week's episode is fitness and technology and how these elements combined are transforming the fitness industry and how we as a society interact with wellness. With a concentration on fitness wearables, did you know that fitness trackers like traditional pedometers, smart watches, and health apps are expected to generate more than $13 billion in revenue this year? In this episode, we'll look to sources from health and tech experts to understand how and why this might be. And as always, if you'd like to take a deeper look into these sources, then they've been included in the show notes for you to check out. So, are you one of the less common individuals who wears a traditional watch nowadays? Or are you a part of the 21% of Americans who reported that they regularly wore a smart watch or a wearable fitness tracker, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center? Well, I know I certainly am, having gotten my first Apple Watch as a gift from my mom earlier this year. And whether or not you're a watch wearer, smart or otherwise, it's almost inevitable not to notice how these little gadgets have grown in popularity over the last decade. In fact, Fitbit, the American consumer electronics and fitness company who released their first Fitbit in 2009, is one of the leading fitness apps with close to 31 million active users as of 2020 amongst their competitors like Nike Plus, Garmin, and MyFitnessPal. In accordance with recent data, more than half of Americans are striving to practice healthier lifestyles, as the study reported 52% trying to eat better, 51% exercising more, and 34% aiming to reduce their alcohol consumption. And while the data does vary by region, this can serve as an indicator that healthy living is becoming more popular in the United States. Following this increased awareness comes the aid of fitness trackers and wearables, as they've been designed to help encourage people to be more active by setting physical activity goals, and tracking their steps and calories burned, to monitoring their sleep, tracking their water intake, and reminding wearers to breathe with the hopes of reducing stress. To amplify this point, Dr. Seth Martin, a Johns Hopkins cardiologist, stated that, quote, fitness trackers are a great tool for heart health, end quote. He extended his statement by adding that, quote, being more active and changing your habits is important, but it can be difficult. Tracking likely helps a lot of people when combined with a clear goal to shoot for, end quote. By no means are fitness trackers to be entirely dependent upon for healthy living, especially since the majority of fitness apps don't typically focus on behavioral changes, but rather on exercise performance with feedback and goal setting strategies. However, a tracker's ability to measure important health parameters can help people adapt to more personalized interventions, which include, but are not limited to, aspects like physical activity, nutrition, and lifestyle. Continuous advancements in these health devices could improve their ability to provide accurate metabolic measurements without requiring people to go to hospitals or health centers as much. This could potentially help to reduce the cost of medical bills and insurance claims. The future of health, medicine, and technology is rapidly changing, so let's try to continue doing a little better each day to take care of ourselves for the sake of our health and overall well-being. That'll do it for this episode of Shape Up with Keba. Remember to check the show notes for more information and to share this episode with someone you know who's interested in health and technology. Thanks again for listening, and I'll hear you in the next one.