The convenience of ignoring health monitoring
There is a general misconception for health monitoring. That it is only for the sick that needs to know if they are getting better or becoming worse. The uncomfortable truth is that tri-athletes and the average Joe are ALL in desperate need of an update on their health.
When is the last time you had a health checkup? Most people do not have a clear answer to that. With the greater increase in the fast paced, high stress and sedentary lifestyle faced by many this day and age, we tend to take the (relative) health we have for granted.
In 2010, 4 in 10 Singaporean adults are overweight and obesity is the number one killer disease that is actually preventable. The common response is just chalking it off to work stress eating and that they can always lose it over a diet plus exercise. More often than not, the solution is procrastinated until a serious condition manifests.
State of the art tracking to push for optimum performance is as much for the reluctant runner as the Ironman. There are many serious exercise warriors who treat their workouts like a religion. Yet despite the intensity and frequency of exercising, it is meaningless if the output is not measured and compared with their historical performance.
In both cases, health monitoring through wearable tech can make life so much easier. The busy worker and marathoner can both using a pedometer to measure the amount of steps you would take through the day, a weighing scale that calculates your BMI / body fat / muscle percentage, as well as a heart rate monitor that could get an accurate reading of your blood pressure.
These devices are often IOT compatible – meaning when paired to a mobile app, it can allow for easy user access and monitoring. By setting personal goals, your daily walk or 10k jog can be tweaked accordingly.
Statistics tracking and the gamification of an active lifestyle could help break the ignorance of health monitoring. In the span of less than 10 minutes a day, everyone can have the means to have their vital statistics (heart rate, body fat percentage, blood pressure) measured accurately.
With these stats shared with the doctor, it can ensure your health is optimal at your periodical checkups. Beyond this, to make healthy living a norm, share your fitness goals with your friends and family. Together in supporting each other to walk more, lose weight and lower your blood pressure – it will be much easier to integrate wearable medtech to everyone’s fast paced, digital lifestyle.
Overlooking your health and physical performance isn’t looking as convenient as before – especially with the hectic lifestyle that has become an accepted norm in present society. Only when pointed out, do people start to have doubts and wondered if they are closer to being in the hazardous spectrum of health than initially believed. After all, the younger you are, the closer it is to prevention than to having to find cures.
He is a technology industry entrepreneur and serial investor. He has over 20 years of senior management experience in MNCs managing large IT organizations worldwide across financial services, healthcare, insurance and telecommunications industries.
