Health apps and watches – at what point does it go from health tracking to obsession and where is our data going?

I recently read an article (in the reference) about health tracking apps and watches. The article discussed the beginnings of health tracking, it started for people with various conditions such as diabetes where they are now more able to track their glucose spikes, for athletes to track the effects of their diets on their health, for women to track their period cycles, for people with heart conditions to track their heart beats. All of those are very positive uses of this new technology and, I am sure has been invaluable to the people who need it. But these apps and watches have now become mainstream and there are two major points I’d like to discuss.

There’s been a huge spike in the ‘average’ person using health tracking apps and watches. Information that we used to get through our 5 senses, how our body felt, how our mind felt, is now getting told to us through numbers. Through the goals that we didn’t know we were meant to hit and through the pressure of sharing these achievements on various social media platforms. All of this has led to an increase in borderline obsession, having to hit those 10,000 steps, having to sleep in the right way, having to drink enough water, having to check our pulse, and record every time we exercise. I recently bought myself a sports watch and pride myself on having a healthy, balanced lifestyle, the first thing I noticed is that I felt pressure when I wasn’t hitting my goals. Goals that I didn’t previously know existed. Goals that are based on my body data, but this data isn’t tracking my physical pain after training or my mental health, when I wake up one day and just don’t feel like working out.

The second challenge is how our data is used; a sentence that stuck by me since watching ‘The Social Network’ on Netflix is: “if you can’t see the product, you are the product”. A lot of tracking apps don’t offer you to opt out of sharing your data, FLO a popular period tracking app, used by 100M women, was found to be sharing health data with advertising tech companies including Facebook. Health data is particularly personal, do we really need global companies to access it?

So, my question to you, the reader is,

• How far should we as consumers, track our health? What features should be turning on or off?
• How far should major companies have access to our health data? Should we be able to opt out or opt in?

Reference:

• https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/05/intimate-data-can-a-person-who-tracks-their-steps-sleep-and-food-ever-truly-be-free

In recent years there has been a huge increase in companies that are focused on targeting eco-conscious consumers, firstly because they are progressively demanding these changes, but also because there is a rise in climate change awareness and the environmental consequences of our growing, and ever demanding population.

1/3 of all food grown around the world is thrown away for a variety of reasons including aesthetics. As consumers in the Western world, we have become accustomed to seeing perfect looking produce in our supermarkets, but it’s silly to assume all produce looks like this.

OddBox is an example of a company which is disrupting the traditional supermarket model.

OddBox, is a UK company that is tackling food waste by partnering with farmers around Europe to collect their produce which would otherwise be thrown to waste because they don’t fit the norms. They offer a variety of subscription boxes of different sizes and different produce.

What do consumers get out of it? Firstly they are able to know where their produce is coming from, as each box highlights the farm where it was sources. Secondly, they can play a small part in tackling food waste by receiving vegetable which are in great condition but that would have been thrown out either for surplus or aesthetic reasons. Thirdly, they can make a sustainable swap easily as the box is delivered to the door and is only a few £ more than what they would usually pay at a supermarket.

What does the farmer get out of it? Firstly, farmers who have worked hard to grow their produce don’t want to see it go to waste. But more importantly, it is known that margins in the agricultural business are usually very low for the people who grow produce. OddBox provides additional income to these farmers by paying them a fair price for produce that would otherwise have been left to rot and unsold.

In recent years across the UK, there has been a rise in similar boxes, independent farm shops, markets, and trends like shopping local and less waste. This has caused traditional supermarkets to reflect.

One chain called Morrisons has started offering ‘wonky veg’ which sells at a lower price in a bid to appeal to the eco-consumer and not get left behind. With this action are we seeing the traditional industry adapt from a disruption which might have left them behind?

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