The United States is a country that has prided itself on several basic rights that have been summarized in the preamble to the constitution: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In a very modern age, the motivations have been slightly altered from family centered to more self centered priorities. As a result, Americans have indulged in activities that has shifted our slow and steady conception of thinking to fast is always best. This idea has not only transcended from our basic rights as humans but also to the way we manage our daily lives. As technological advancements have been made, the results of their introduction has left Americans, what some would say, “very lazy people”. For some time, technology has been responsible for the behaviors of the sedentary life. Transportation has played a large part in removing the need to walk and ongoing changes to the workplace has removed physical activities from the other part of our lives. Worse still, computers at work have encouraged us to be completely static for most of our day bringing its own problems. Televisions, computers, and mobile phones are now completing the job of keeping us still outside of work (Glance, 2017). For decades, technology has made daily living much easier and more convenient, but not necessarily healthier. Technology‐based interventions to promote physical activity can be seen as effective, and using further methods to promote participant adherence is associated with greater benefits. With a wide range of technological advancements, people have found ways to solve for years. This review was designed to implement the importance of physical activity, and how technology has made an impact in today’s health.
Introducing Physical Activity
Physical activity is defined as body movement that is produced by skeletal muscles and results in energy expenditure above a basal level. We confirm that there The term physical activity also refers to bodily movements that enhances health. Body movement can be divided into two categories: baseline activity and health enhancing physical activity. Baseline activity is defined as light intensity activities of daily life. These activities include standing, slowly walking, and lifting lightweight objects. People who only do baseline activities, are considered to be inactive. They may do short, moderate to vigorous intensity activity, such as climbing stairs. Baseline activity encourages help to cultures where physical activity in general is the social norm. Health enhancing physical activity is the activity that is added to baseline activities and produces health benefits. The recommendations for heath enhancing physical activity include quantitative and qualitative advice (Duan, 2013).
The amount of physical activity an individual should get each week is broken down into four categories: inactive, low, medium, and high levels or amounts. Low amounts of physical activity provides only a few benefits, whereas, medium amounts provides substantial benefits, and high amounts will provide greater benefits. The MyActivity Pyramid, a graphical tool to help adults meet the physical activities and exercise recommendations, is a representation that everyone should try to incorporate these four levels into their everyday routines. On the inactive level, action is needed to become more physical. Low level activities are preferable to an inactive lifestyle, but only requires fewer than 150 minutes per week. Medium level activity requires 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity activity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per week. High activity levels is more of the 300 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week.
Current research studies have shown that young people and adults in the United States do not meet the recommended physical activity guidelines (Spruijt-Metz, 2013). Physical activity tends to decline from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. Being physically active is one of the most important steps to improve health. The choices we make about other lifestyle factors, such as diets, smoking and alcohol use, also effects our health in a major way. The lack of physical activity has been considered to cause 6% of deaths all around the globe. Engaging in regular physical activity has shown to have many benefits. Exercising helps controls weight, reduces the risk of certain diseases, improves physical and mental health, and prolongs life. Keeping track of physical activity with the use of technology is one way to stay motivated and remain healthy.
Wearable technology, also known as wearable devices or wearables, are electronic technologies and computers that have been incorporated into items such as clothing and accessories. These items can be worn comfortably on the body. Wearable tracking devices such as wristbands, watches, or belts, are all sufficient for tracking daily physical activity. Applications built into smartphones and tablets, has also become a popular norm in tracking the daily activities of an individual. It has been estimated that 1 and 10 Americans, over the age 18, own some form of fitness tracker or smart device (Findley, 2015). With these systems available, people seem to be more curious about tracking their daily physical activity. People are encouraged to be aware of their physical activity. The most prominent reason for tracking physical activity is the expected positive effects of health and well-being. Since physical inactivity is a major risk factor, there has been an alarming rise in th need for effective interventions that aim to increase physical activities. The main purposes of fitness trackers are to make us become more aware of how much activity we are actually doing each day. Standard wearable tracker measurements include, step count, time spent in activity, energy expenditure, heart rate, and sleep tracking. Wearables allows the wearer to access information in real time. They will gently vibrate to notify you to work toward your goal, encourage you along the way, and praise you when you get there. These gadgets record your activity, while the corresponding applications interpret the results and send you frequent messages to let you know how well you are progressing. With the primary origins being smart watches, pedometers and fitness trackers, wearable technology has now become a billion dollar market that has expanded to implants, head mount display amongst other, initially geared toward consumers, wearable technology is now being extended to healthcare.
Health Benefits of Physical Activity
It is important for Americans to be physically active. The benefits of physical activity occurs in people who are at risk for developing chronic diseases, and in people with chronic conditions. Health conditions effected by physical activity varies from the amounts of activities. Increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary behaviors is protective for health conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression and certain cancers (O’Reilly, 2013).
Obesity
Obesity is the condition that is characterized by the accumulation of excess body fat or adipose tissue. Excess adiposity is approximated by calculating the body mass index. Obesity is known to be the most blatantly visible, yet most neglected health problem today. Obesity also increases the risks of other diseases. The results for the prevention of obesity has been seen as disappointing, through result varies for each person. People should consider options. For controlling body weight by engaging in regular physical activity and being aware of their calorie intake.
Diabetes
The most common form of diabetes is characterized by disorders of insulin resistance and insulin secretion. Both are usually present at the time the diabetes manifest. The risk of type 2 diabetes can be decreased by both aerobic and resistance exercises. Studies have shown that increased energy expenditure decreases the risk of diabetes by 6%. This is beneficial for an individual who may be a high risk. Exercise interventions are effective for the management of diabetes. One study showed the walking for at least 2 hours weekly reduces the the incidence or premature death. Exercise intervention of people with diabetes are beneficial in improving glucose homeostasis. There is evidence that lifestyle interventions are effective in diabetes prevention, and barriers for prevent should be addressed.
Heart Disease
Recent studies have shown, that 1 in every 3 adults have one or more cardiovascular disease in the US. About 42 million are over the age of 60 years. Cardiovascular diseases are groups of disorders that involves the heart and blood vessels. It is estimated that 90% of cardiovascular diseases are preventable through healthy eating, exercise, and avoiding tobacco. Treating risk factors such as high blood pressure is also beneficial. The risk of heart diseases are reduced by almost a third in adults who participate in at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week. Participating in physical activity also strengthens the heart. High dietary intake of fats and salts have also linked to cardiovascular disease risks. Replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats reduces the risk of most heart diseases.
Mental Health
Mental health is “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her potential, and is able to cope with the stresses of life. The individual can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. According to the World Health Organization Depression Fact sheet 2017, it is estimated that depression is an affective disorder that varies in degrees more than 300 million people worldwide. Individuals who are physically active can lower their risks of depression and cognitive decline. These declines are associated with aging in thinking, learning, and judgment skills. Studies show that mental health benefits are present in people who do aerobic or a combination of aerobic and muscle– strengthening activities at least 3 days a week for 30 to 60 minutes. Research has shown that even lower levels of physical activity also may provide some benefits.
Cancer
Approximately 1 in 4 deaths in the United States are due to cancer. Regular physical activity has been shown to protect against a multitude of cancers in a wide variety of study populations and settings. It is well established that being physically active lowers the risk of colorectal, breast, and endometrial cancer. Research indicates that physical activity may have beneficial effects for several aspects of cancer survivorship (Garcia, 2014). Large trials showed exercise's association with reduced all-cause mortality and that self-reported moderately vigorous physical activity led to lower risk of all-cause and cancer-specific mortality. The link of physical activity to lower the risk of cancer is an association that there could be other causes. People who engage in activity between 210 to 420 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity can reduce the risk of cancer. Cancer survivors have better quality of life with improved physical fitness.
History of Fitness Technology
Heath and fitness technology has come a long way. The concept of activity tracking grew from written logs to spreadsheet style computer logs, in which entries were made manually. Computers that were once the size of a room, now fits into the palm of our hands as a wearable devices. For as long as people have participated in various forms of physical activities, they have been able to keep track of fitness statistics in an effort to both monitor and enhance their performance. Results from accumulated data on heart rate, distance, and speed is provided in real time, allowing the user to share information with others. Today, dozens of fitness technology companies have produced advanced tracking devices that can be worn on the body. The evolution of fitness wearables have experienced greater consumer appeal and companies have produced multiple generations of devices in a short period of time. Short-term studies have shown these technologies result in improvements in weight loss when added to a behavioral intervention.
How Fitness Trackers Work
Most of the wearables toady come with a 3 axis accelerometer to track movement in every direction. Pedometers can measure your steps by detecting the motion of hands or hips as your body moves. Because the distance of each person step varies, an informal calibration is required if presentation of the distance covered in a unit of length. These sensors measure the acceleration, frequency, duration, intensity and patterns of your movement. Other fitness trackers such as the Fitbit Charge 2 or the Apple Watch, use optical sensors to shine a light on the user skin to measure the pulse through it ( Srinivas, 2017).. The light illuminates capillaries and the sensor measures the rate at which the blood is being pumped. Tracking sleep can definitely be useful for helping you recognize patterns in your sleep habits. Actigraphy, is the process where your tracker translates wrist movements into sleep patterns as best it can, there is some guesswork and estimating involve during this process.
Pros and Cons of Using Fitness Trackers
Pros
There are both advantages and disadvantages of using fitness trackers. Some will say the these devices will change your life, while others will never admit the benefits of using these gadgets. Though, other trackers may work better than others, they all share some of the same characteristics. Wearables provides us with the ability to monitor fitness levels as we wear them. Because most of these devices are hands free and portable, it is easier for the user access information quicker. Fitness trackers will collect data of activity levels and makes daily or weekly comparisons. Consistency is important when participating in fitness routines. The device will notify the user if he or she is slacking off. Readings from trackers can also be shared with among other users. On most apps, you compare results between friends and family to see their progress and how they are doing. This can be an effective way of stying motivated through the fitness journey.
Cons
Most trackers are seen as faulty devices. Sometimes the device readings are not as accurate as said to be. For example, these devices do not count every step made. The tracker might dismiss a small movement of the wrist and not include it as a step. Along with calories burned, the estimated calculations are based on basal metabolic rate, or BMR and daily detected activity (Laczo, 2017). These calculations are not always accurate and should not be looked at as absolute correct, but as estimates. Another disadvantage of fitness trackers would be battery life, most bands only work properly when the device. Is completely charged.The third disadvantage is that fitness trackers can be expensive. For some people, buying one is just impractical when they can track their own fitness activity using conventional methods. Fitness trackers will only work when they are worn. If a user find that the device is too uncomfortable, there may be less incline for the use of the device.
Architecture of Wearables
Fitness trackers consist of five main layers. The sensing layer, which the layer that has sensors embedded into the device. These sensors collect data such such as the number of footsteps, heart rate, and body temperature. The data is collected by sensors, which are sent to servers using the Wide Area Network such as GSM, GPRS, and LTE. The MAC layer is the layer that is responsible for device monitoring and control. In the network layer , care of transmission, routing, and addressing allocation and management can be done more efficiently with the use of IPV6. Processing and storage layer is where the data received from the sensing layer is analyzed and stored in databases, and is responsible for security control. The last layer is the service layer. This layer provides analyzed and processed data to other services like mobile applications.