In a world where modern technology is rapidly developing, more and more
data about our health becomes available at our fingertips. Whether it is monitoring our medications, number of steps each day, or heart rate, the processes going on in our bodies are constantly tracked. Arguably, this has some major benefits, revolutionising the lives of type 1 diabetics for example, who can monitor their blood sugar via their phone, as well as helping people track the taking of pills they need. However, if someone is completely able-bodied, does the opportunity to access so much data about our health actually do us much good?
It is a typical storyline in many sitcoms where a character receives an Apple watch or a Fitbit and becomes obsessed with monitoring their heart rate, blood pressure or calories. For example, Phil in Modern Family and Pete in Outnumbered. Consequently, this documents the ease of becoming consumed by your health in a comical way which, whilst funny, also makes light of a potentially serious situation. It truly is an easy rabbit hole to fall down when observing your health so intensely.
In the case of calorie counting, numerous apps are advertised prominently across social media to help people watch what they’re eating. This can help maintain a healthy diet and track weight loss for people who need it, although it is equally as damaging for people who suffer from eating disorders as it promotes an unhealthy, controlling lifestyle. It is similar to adding the number of calories onto menus in restaurants, a government initiative imposed in 2022. The temptation to calorie count catalyses a potentially detrimental impact on someone’s relationship with food and harms mental health.
Furthermore, it is not ideal to have a constant awareness of monitoring your heart rate. This is because, if you become stressed about your heart rate it will naturally increase. Therefore, the process of tracking heart rate creates a domino effect, largely cancelling out any positive result. Heart rate is also dictated by a variety of factors and can fluctuate largely throughout the day based on your level of physical activity. It is important to be appropriately educated about this before monitoring it and increasing your level of health anxiety by not understanding what all this health data means.
So, whilst health data can be beneficial in some respects, for the majority, the influx of being able to track so many of your body’s natural processes can be more of a hindrance than a help in everyday life. The answer to better health can be more simplistic, by just maintaining a healthy lifestyle rather than allowing yourself to have a mounting sense of health anxiety through an obsession with your Apple watch.
