A Third of People Track Their Health or Fitness. Who Are They and Why Are They Doing it?

PR65934

NUREMBERG, Germany, Sept 29, 2016 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

      A recent international GfK survey

[http://www.gfk.com/global-studies/global-study-overview ], conducted online in

16 countries, shows one in three people (33 percent) currently monitor or track

their health or fitness via an online or mobile application, or via a fitness

band, clip, or smartwatch.

    China is well in the lead for monitoring health and fitness in this way,

with 45 percent of the online population currently doing this. Brazil and the

USA come next, with 29 percent each, closely followed by Germany (28 percent)

and France (26 percent).

    In most countries studied, men are ahead of women in this activity, but

five countries stand out as having a higher percentage of their female than

their male online population currently tracking their health and fitness in

this way: China (48 percent of women, compared to 43 percent of the men),

Russia (21 percent of women and 17 percent of men), France (27 percent and 25

percent), Australia (20 percent and 18 percent), and Canada (20 percent and 19

percent).

    Looking at age, it is those aged 30-39 and 20-29 years old that are most

keen on tracking their health and fitness - standing at 41 percent and 39

percent of each age group respectively. However, teenagers (15-19 year olds)

and the 20-29 year olds both show almost a quarter of their numbers saying

that, while they do not currently monitor their health or fitness in this way,

they have done so in the past. This suggests potential for bringing this

significant number of 'past users' back into the market, given the right offers

or messages by retailers or manufacturers.

    Reasons for tracking health or fitness

    Over half (55 percent) of those who are currently tracking their health and

fitness said one of the reasons they do it is "to maintain or improve my

physical condition or fitness" - making this the most popular reason

internationally.

    The next most widespread reason is motivating themselves to exercise,

selected by half (50 percent) of those currently tracking.

    Several of the reasons given by those currently tracking health or fitness

are a reminder that users of these trackers value them for benefits that are

not exclusive to the world of sports. Over a third give "to improve my energy

levels" or "to motivate myself to eat and drink healthily" as a reason for

tracking their health or fitness, while 29 percent say "to improve sleep" and a

quarter say "to be more productive". In addition, 22 percent say "because it's

fun". Only 14 percent of those currently tracking their health or fitness say

they are doing it "to train for an event."

    Why are people tracking or monitoring their health or fitness?

     To maintain or improve my physical condition/fitness - 55%

     To motivate myself to exercise - 50%

     To improve my energy level - 35%

     To motivate myself to eat and drink healthily - 34%

     To improve sleep - 29%

     Because it's part of my daily routine - 29%

     To lose weight - 29%

     To be more productive - 24%

     Because it's fun - 22%

     To monitor or track a specific health condition - 17%

     To train for an event (race, sport, etc.) - 14%

     To compete with other people  - 8%

     For some other reason - 2%

     Not sure - 1%

    Source: GfK survey of 4,900+ internet users (ages 15+) in 16 countries who

currently track their health or fitness; multiple answers allowed. Fieldwork

was conducted in the summer of 2016.

    Jan Wassmann, global lead for wearables research at GfK, comments, "These

findings demonstrate the attraction that health and fitness monitoring has

within much wider groups than just the obvious young sports players.

Manufacturers and retailers can use these insights - combined with our

point-of-sales data on purchases of wearable devices - to understand who are

their real-life users and why, and tailor their products to deepen that appeal."

    Download charts showing the full findings:

http://www.gfk.com/global-studies/global-study-overview

    About the study

    GfK conducted the online survey with over 20,000 consumers aged 15 or older

across 16 countries. Fieldwork was completed in summer 2016. Data are weighted

to reflect the demographic composition of the online population aged 15+ in

each market. Countries covered are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil,

Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, South

Korea, Spain, UK and USA.

    http://www.gfk.com / https://twitter.com/GfK

SOURCE: GfK