Health Trackers Are Enhancing Our Senses
All that data can give us a heightened awareness of what’s going on in our bodies
Today, the hard data of our health is more transparent than ever, thanks to the digital sensors embedded in our smartphones, watches, and scales.
We can now closely monitor and evaluate hundreds of aspects of our health with these devices, gaining access to information about ourselves and our bodies that we otherwise can’t sense or intuit.
Before personal health monitors, very few of us tracked constant fluctuations in our weight or glucose levels. Now, anyone with a device can monitor them every day, even after every meal. This newly available information is empowering over half of Americans to now track their health and fitness on a daily basis.
And we’re only just beginning to see the long-term effects of self-tracking. The most notable findings, however, are not about how people responding to these numbers; researchers have found little support for the idea that self-tracking can encourage long-term behavioral change. Instead, a recognition is emerging that practicing self-tracking has powerful psychological effects, heightening people’s awareness of their bodies.
