Beware a Health App
In the latest Rundown, research suggests that we ditch the scale, don't count on Apps to change our behavior, and start moving to combat anxiety.
Weight is Just a Number. Losing weight has health benefits but should it be your priority when adopting a healthier lifestyle? Glenn Gaesser, Professor of Exercise Science at Arizona State University, says maybe not. Gaesser co-authored a recent study (read it here ), which concludes that increases in cardiorespiratory fitness or physical activity are consistently associated with greater reductions in mortality risk than is intentional weight loss. Put another way, the health benefits of exercise and diet are largely independent of how many pounds you lose. For Gaesser, connecting exercise with weight loss is the wrong message and what we should be focused on is the intrinsic value of physical activity, regardless of changes in our body weight.
Beware a Health App. Apps targeted at people with chronic medical conditions may be beneficial because they offer the chance to personalize self monitoring and set goals but when it comes to their quality, content and potential to change people’s behavior, the benefits are mixed. A team of Danish researchers looked at health Apps targeting physical activity and diet that were directed at people with heart failure, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and depression, among other conditions. Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (read it here), they found that in general, Apps for patients with chronic conditions passed the quality test but had low-to-moderate potential to change people’s behavior.
Exercise Reduces Anxiety. A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders (read it here) strengthened the idea that exercise can be an effective treatment for anxiety disorders. Malin Henricksson, a researcher at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and a co-author of the study, said that participants reported a clear improvement in their anxiety levels after 12 weeks of exercise. Their routine was a combination of cardio and strength training for at least 45-60 minutes, three or more times a week. Henricksson noted that one of the reasons why physical activity lowers anxiety is because exercise changes the brain’s plasticity and aerobic movement, specifically, can have a positive effect on aspects of brain function and cognition.