Leveraging technology to create a Healthy India

If Santa Claus were a real phenomenon, he would have to carry bags full of health and fitness apps this season. Everyone knows someone who is building an app in this context, as there are more than 150,000** health and wellness apps today. If you step back and think about how new and young this market is, it doesn’t take much effort to realise what an explosion the health and fitness market has witnessed. Identifying the right app suited to your needs can go a long way. It helps in keeping you on the right track, especially if it can bring you access to qualified experts who understand the science behind your wellness.Smartphones today are not just mobile phones with interesting features, but an individualised data mine for each person. Fitness apps are putting data into the hands of the people and everyone can get a comprehensive snapshot of their lives; measure everything from their meal patterns to water intake. This trend is a compelling evidence of the fact that health and wellness is now front and center in importance, among the tech savvy. Urban consumers believe that apps and technology can deliver tangible impact to their health.Wellness technology is not just a consumer preference but also a corporate agenda currently. Health and wellness is the new skill corporates measure, encourage and invest in. Corporate India is actively tracking what employees eat, how many calories they burn, how healthy their lifestyles are; and even compete with each other on fitness goals. With the cliche ‘sitting is the new smoking’ becoming a chant of sorts, most corporates are marching strong on their path to create innovative and inclusive wellness programs.So what does Corporate India look like, when it comes to health and wellness? At HealthifyMe, we have had the opportunity to observe trends and patterns across 100,000 corporate employees. And the report card here has good and bad news. The bad news is that 50% of corporate employees are overweight, having a BMI of >25; while that figure is 82% when it comes to CEOs. And aligned with these figures, the number one goal among corporate employees is to lose weight, followed by wanting to eat better. The good news? Management and employees are acknowledging their health risks and taking tangible steps to manage it.While the intent of everyone is aligned on having a healthier lifestyle and creating time for wellness; the realities of everyday life catch up. Most people end up following a sedentary life, consume disproportionate carbs and fat during office lunches and snacks and face inertia to get started. While everyone resolves to get fitter and workout around New Year, few follow through beyond the first month. But fitness and overall wellness does not mandate a large and arduous stride to start with. Small and incremental changes can go a long way. Walking and exercising for 25 minutes every day, replacing your samosas for snacks with fruits or nuts and ensuring you breathe right and stretch; can add up to the right beginning. And technology has made it easier than ever before to reach quality coaches, track your meals and identify necessary interventions for your goals. And when it comes to corporate India adopting fitness goals, we have observed that the successful initiatives have three things in common. A sense of commitment from the leadership team, encouraging healthy competition among employees and amplifying small successes towards the unified goal of better health and wellness. If there was ever a time, to get fit and enjoy the journey, now is it.So come 2017, your resolve to get fitter might stay the same as any other year’s beginning. But this time around, you have a very powerful buddy in your phone. And finding the right app that truly understands you, with unique context, can make all the difference in helping you meet your goals and resolutions this time around!(With inputs from Ms. Niveditha Viswanathan, VP, Business Development at HealthifyMe)