69% of Adults Track Their Health, With or Without Gadget

Doing so helps improve well-being

A new survey shows that 69 percent of U.S. adults track something that indicates their health, or that of a loved one. The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that the health indicators included exercise routine, weight, diet, blood pressure, blood sugar, headaches or sleep patterns. Despite the proliferation of fitness tracking devices, only 21 percent of the respondents said they used a gadget, app or website to track this information. Nearly half of those surveyed, at 49 percent, said they keep this information via memory, and 34 percent say they track the data on paper. The survey found that tracking their habits actually made people take smarter steps toward better health. Ernesto Ramirez, community organizer for Quantified Self, predicts more devices will be made use of in the future. "These trackers make it easier to understand ourselves, our world and the interaction between the two," Ramirez says. (Mashable)

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