Improving physical activity and health with information technology

Abstract

Physical inactivity and overweight/obesity kill 6 million people yearly [1]. Regular physical activity (PA) such as walking, cycling, or participating in sports has significant benefits for health and weight-loss maintenance. It reduces of the risk of diseases, e.g. diabetes, depression, or helps weight controlling. This one year case study explores how daily monitoring of objective PA and weight effects on body mass index (BMI)-value when the target is to achieve globally accepted normal BMI-value. The study aims to learn by costeffective modelling how improvements in wellbeing and health on an individual level occur with the help of information technology gadgets.