The coach on your wrist
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Keeping track of how you’re doing on healthy living can help to keep you living healthy, and devices called wearable electronic activity monitors are designed to help you keep track.
At the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, researcher Elizabeth Lyons examined whether 13 monitors delivered on major measurements, such as burning calories and getting enough sleep – and encouragement, such as progress tracking and social support.
“They actually had about as many as we would expect to find in a clinical behavioral physical activity intervention, which is a lot.”
But she says the value would depend on what a buyer most wants to monitor.
The study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research was supported by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.