Connected scale proves there’s no avoiding holiday weight gain.
Smart, connected products, particularly those in the wellness space, are supposed to deliver insights that can help consumers live happier, healthier lives, right? Well, here’s an insight that isn’t of particularly good cheer: Apparently, there’s no escaping the inevitable holiday weight gain.
According to a new research study analyzing data collected from 1,800 adults making use of smart scales in the United States, Germany and Japan, the average person’s weight is at an annual low around the early fall––and pounds will start packing on from the time of Rosh Hashanah to around Christmas.
It's certainly no surprise that overindulging on holiday treats will result in a bigger middle. But what is notable is that the study found whatever gain happens in this 10 day period or so of late fall through early winter can take up to five months to come off, if it comes off at at all. The weight of U.S. and Japanese respondents’ weight rose by as much as 0.7% over the course of the year, according to a New York Times article about the study, which was conducted by Cornell University and Finland's Tampere University of Technology in conjunction with Withings, a maker of connected health monitoring devices.
This news is likely to be pretty eye-opening and depressing for those of us who have been pretty lax about the mysterious appearance of some extra LBs. I, for one, am not ready to hear what the connected scale is going to tell me.
