Why the Public Option Will Vastly Improve Public Health
10/19/09
The public health insurance option will greatly increase political support of aggressive preventive-health policies as taxpayers realize they’ve become the insurer of last resort.
Obesity-prevention policies such as “fat taxes” or outright bans on junk food, impossible to roll out nationally in the current political environment, will begin to take center stage in Congress as taxpayers realize that everyone is paying the price for obesity.
Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the obesity epidemic is “the only thing in health in this country that is getting worse, and it’s getting worse fast”. In this speech (given when he was still the New York Health Commissioner) he equates the obesity fight with the campaign against cigarette smoking and urges similar actions be taken, such as:
- Reducing the amount of junk food advertising aimed at children;
- Limiting children’s “hazardous exposure” to junk food products in schools and other public places;
- Increasing the prominent display of the calorie content of restaurant meals to help consumers make better nutrition decisions when eating out;
- Increasing clinical interventions for people suffering from obesity.
Podcasts Help Combat Obesity
09/18/09
A new study suggests that podcasted information can influence overweight exercisers adhere more closely to an exercise and nutrition program.
Best Buy Takes Electric Bikes for a Spin
07/09/09
This isn’t exactly health-related, but its about personal transportation and it’s interesting to see one of the biggest consumer electronics retailers taking a shot at an entirely novel product category. Best Buy’s venture capital arm has also invested $10 million in Brammo, a manufacturer of high-end electric bikes.
Obesity Costs California Economy $41 Billion Annually
07/09/09
A study from the California Center for Public Health Advocacy says that the cost to California’s economy of added healthcare expenses and lost productivity due to obesity and physical inactivity were $41 billion in 2006.
CNBC Segment with Zipcar CEO
06/02/09
The segment is titled “Car Sharing - The New Model T”. I agree with that idea in the sense that going car-free forces a person to start considering various alternatives to car ownership, of which car sharing is only one. Zipcar members often use a variety of means for getting around town: walking for trips up to two miles, biking or bus for longer trips, and Zipcar when you desire greater convenience or need to haul things.
All of the alternatives to car ownership force users to burn calories, which is great when it comes to preventing chronic diseases like diabetes that result from caloric overload and sedentary lifestyles. And prevention is going to be a fast-growing issue as we face the prospect of American taxpayers picking up the tab for universal healthcare.
Take kidney care for diabetes patients. I recently had a few beers with a kidney disease researcher at the University of Washington. He says that while the rate of kidney failure due to hereditary causes has remained flat over the years, the rate of dialysis among diabetes patients is growing.
Once your kidneys start to fail, the clock starts ticking to the point where you’ll need to either get a kidney transplant or be on dialysis. Both of these options are very expensive, but life-long dialysis is by far the pricier course of action. On top of that, dialysis is very rough on the body. Somewhere around a third of dialysis patients die every year, and most dialysis patients become so debilitated by the procedure that they can’t work.
The cost/benefit argument for reducing dialysis demand through diabetes prevention is pretty easy to make. Research has shown that regular moderate exercise will help delay the onset of diabetes. Kathleen Sebelius was recently saying on PBS that greater emphasis must be put on prevention if we’re to provide cost-effective universal healthcare.
As consumers struggle with both a lack of cash and an excess of body fat, maybe the “new Model T” will be the bicycle or the walking shoe. Maybe GM’s competition for consumer transportation dollars will come less from Japanese car companies and increasingly from sources like REI.
800 Calories Burned During a Video Game
05/13/09
I spent the past couple of weeks messing around with various heart rate monitors and found one I like. The Suunto t1c is a $120 unit that will track calories and heart rate. I stayed away from Polar products because they make you ship the watch back to the factory just to get the battery changed. My only problem with the Suunto is the screen is pretty dim.
I did a test run on the bike controller yesterday and logged 266 calories while playing our prototype version of the TORCS car racing game in my target zone for 20 minutes. Then I picked up the pace for the rest of the hour, including a few tough intervals. In total I burned a total of 867 calories over 65 minutes, according to the heart rate monitor.
A few points about the accuracy of the heart rate monitor. I set it up using the results from two cardio exercises that are recommended for determining max heart rate, but I realized that I ran those tests on a different monitor, so the results may not be completely applicable to the Suunto unit. This morning I ran a separate max heart rate test using the Suunto monitor and the result was within one point of the result from the other tests.
Regardless, I was cranking pretty hard during the last 45 minutes of the game, and it was a great workout compared to some of the harder outdoor cycling I’ve done.
I didn’t try to break a course record this time because I was focused on getting some heart rate and calorie data at different levels of exertion. I’ll add the heart rate data to my training log so I can go back and see how my fitness and technical game-playing skills improve over time.
One usability issue is that 20-30 minutes in the same seat position can make the crotch go numb. If I was biking outside I’d just stop or stand on my pedals. Those aren’t great options when you’re in the middle of a racing game. I wound up taking a short break to get off the bike and then reset the game.
I did a test run on the bike controller yesterday and logged 266 calories while playing our prototype version of the TORCS car racing game in my target zone for 20 minutes. Then I picked up the pace for the rest of the hour, including a few tough intervals. In total I burned a total of 867 calories over 65 minutes, according to the heart rate monitor.
A few points about the accuracy of the heart rate monitor. I set it up using the results from two cardio exercises that are recommended for determining max heart rate, but I realized that I ran those tests on a different monitor, so the results may not be completely applicable to the Suunto unit. This morning I ran a separate max heart rate test using the Suunto monitor and the result was within one point of the result from the other tests.
Regardless, I was cranking pretty hard during the last 45 minutes of the game, and it was a great workout compared to some of the harder outdoor cycling I’ve done.
I didn’t try to break a course record this time because I was focused on getting some heart rate and calorie data at different levels of exertion. I’ll add the heart rate data to my training log so I can go back and see how my fitness and technical game-playing skills improve over time.
One usability issue is that 20-30 minutes in the same seat position can make the crotch go numb. If I was biking outside I’d just stop or stand on my pedals. Those aren’t great options when you’re in the middle of a racing game. I wound up taking a short break to get off the bike and then reset the game.
Congress Plans Incentives for Healthy Habits
05/11/09
The New York Times has a brief run-down of how Congress is moving to enable employers to spend more money on fitness and healthy lifestyle incentives. It mentions workplace wellness program guidelines suggested by the NIH.
Virgin Health Miles was one of the earlier companies marketing fitness incentive programs to employers. They outfit employees with a USB pedometer and online software for tracking exercise results.
Training Results - Week of 4/20
04/27/09
I spent 167 minutes riding the prototype last week. 146 laps, almost 3 hours. My best time around the course is now 1:01:68, and I cranked out a couple of sub-1:09 laps while daydreaming, so my technical skills are improving.
The image above shows my per-lap performance during the first 20 laps of Friday’s game play. I spent the first five minutes warming up in low gear. It looks like I shifted up during lap 5 and got in a fast lap while daydreaming.
The Sub-1:00 Lap
Getting around the TORCS racing simulation requires a combination of pedaling effort and technical skill. In order to achieve my goal of a sub-1:00 lap I’m going to have to improve both my steering skills as well as build up my high-end cardio endurance.
For example, the course I’m riding on has a nasty curve right at the start of the lap. I’m gradually increasing my average speed through the curve but if I’m sloppy I’ll crash, coming to a complete stop for ten or more seconds while I try to get my car situated back onto the track. Some of the slower laps (like lap 7 and lap 20) are due to getting my car stuck on the guardrail or doing 3 360’s and sliding off the track.
I raced in Practice mode on Friday (no other cars), so I didn’t have to deal with opponents who bump me from behind or block the track. These are also a big cause of wipeouts that bleed off my momentum around the track.
Racing Strategy
My current strategy is to warm up in low gear, then shift up a single gear and ride a few laps in the higher gear. I don’t decide to go all-out for a record-braking attempt unless I get to a certain point on the track by :40, at which point I’ve found that I can get to the finish line within 20 more seconds if I drive perfectly.
I’m still trying to find the optimal point on the track where I begin pushing all-out to the finish, as well as the optimum gear setting. If I start too soon I get fatigued and my steering gets sloppy.
Jones Soda Tries Bike Power for Earth Day
04/22/09
Employees of Seattle-based Jones Soda Company are running their operation on bike power for Earth Day. I bet it smells pretty ripe in there.
Don's Results on the Bike Controller
04/20/09
I wasn’t as diligent about riding as I thought I would be last week, but when I got on the prototype I cranked pretty hard.
I’m finding it tough to give myself a good warm up because I tend to get really into chasing my computerized opponents and/or beating my fastest lap time. Warm downs are also a challenge for the same reason. Today I made sure to do five laps before cranking too hard just to get my heart rate up.
I find that once I’m warmed up I can bang out a 1:10 lap while daydreaming. So the game has my brain sufficiently engaged that I’m not driving off the road, but I can let my mind wander without crashing. It’s challenging to go faster because I have to maintain good motor control while pushing my heart rate way up. My best lap times are all right around 1:06. Rolland did a 1:01 lap last week, so a one minute lap should be possible.
I’m using my Kona Dew bike when riding the prototype. One nice thing about the prototype is that you don’t get penalized if your bike is heavier or has bigger tires than a road bike. I bought the Dew used the day I got rid of my car two years ago. I wanted something sturdy for urban riding but not so expensive that I’d cry if it got stolen. It’s got a top speed of 14 mph on flat ground.
I keep a water bottle in the bottle holder and suck on that from time to time. I usually pay a performance penalty because my steering gets sloppy with one hand grabbing the water bottle.
Last week’s results include on set on the Practice course (no cars) and one 15-minute session in which I rode the track backward just for the heck of it.
I’m finding it tough to give myself a good warm up because I tend to get really into chasing my computerized opponents and/or beating my fastest lap time. Warm downs are also a challenge for the same reason. Today I made sure to do five laps before cranking too hard just to get my heart rate up.
I find that once I’m warmed up I can bang out a 1:10 lap while daydreaming. So the game has my brain sufficiently engaged that I’m not driving off the road, but I can let my mind wander without crashing. It’s challenging to go faster because I have to maintain good motor control while pushing my heart rate way up. My best lap times are all right around 1:06. Rolland did a 1:01 lap last week, so a one minute lap should be possible.
I’m using my Kona Dew bike when riding the prototype. One nice thing about the prototype is that you don’t get penalized if your bike is heavier or has bigger tires than a road bike. I bought the Dew used the day I got rid of my car two years ago. I wanted something sturdy for urban riding but not so expensive that I’d cry if it got stolen. It’s got a top speed of 14 mph on flat ground.
I keep a water bottle in the bottle holder and suck on that from time to time. I usually pay a performance penalty because my steering gets sloppy with one hand grabbing the water bottle.
Last week’s results include on set on the Practice course (no cars) and one 15-minute session in which I rode the track backward just for the heck of it.
More Wii Warriors are Playing Hurt
04/20/09
Repetitive stress injuries plague adult Wii gamers.
“In the moments after I felt the pop in my left shoulder, the sensation I felt was not pain. It was panic. How exactly does a 40-year-old man explain to his wife that he might have torn his rotator cuff during a midnight game of Wii tennis?”
“In the moments after I felt the pop in my left shoulder, the sensation I felt was not pain. It was panic. How exactly does a 40-year-old man explain to his wife that he might have torn his rotator cuff during a midnight game of Wii tennis?”
Berkeley Mayor Gives Up Car for Bus
04/20/09
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Berkeley’s mayor got rid of his car and takes the bus or walks to work every day:
The 71-year-old mayor is trading in his 2001 Volvo for an AC Transit pass
and a sturdy pair of walking shoes.
"I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint to the absolute minimum," he
said. "I figure, if I really want to go someplace I can just rent a car."
Bates' long farewell to the Volvo began about a year ago, when he started
walking to work as a way to lose weight and stay in shape. The 18-minute
trek from his home in South Berkeley to City Hall was so invigorating he
started walking everywhere he could - to Berkeley Bowl, the BART station,
city council meetings.
Don Starts Daily Exercise Tracking
04/08/09
At the recent GamesBeat conference I heard several speakers talk about the importance of the social aspects of gaming. One such element of social gaming is the leaderboard, a roster of each player’s achievements or high scores in the game.
I’ll have to review my notes, but I recall someone saying that leaderboards are a big factor influencing player motivation. This concept obviously has implications for fitness gaming: my desire for leaderboard status might make me work out longer, hit higher calorie burn thresholds, or push my aching body harder (even though I’d rather not) just to improve my best time.
I decided to create my own leaderboard to chart my daily performance on the HeartRate Games bicycle game controller prototype. My goal is to see if tracking this information will improve my own exercise motivation. I will publish the information on this blog.
I’ll tell you a little bit about how I’m gathering information for the leaderboard.
The HeartRate Games prototype enables a player to pedal and steer their own bicycle through TORCS, an open-source car racing simulator. This is a great demo because we’ve taken a sedentary game and bolted our proprietary fitness gaming interface onto to the game code, thus turning it into a great fitness game that is super fun to play while riding a stationary bike. I rode it for 40 minutes today and could keep doing it longer because it’s a fun video game.
The screenshot below will give you an idea of what it looks like to play TORCS. Usually I’m playing with a view from slightly behind and above the car, but the TORCS website doesn’t have a good screenshot for this.
The leaderboard data I’m tracking is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen:
Here’s a closer view:
The challenging thing about playing this game on a bike is that you can’t rely on sheer physical output to increase your best track time. You have to get good at navigating the course in order to improve your best time. Go into a corner too fast and you’ll skid out or hit the wall. Go through it too slow and you’ll bleed off too much momentum and have to make it up with extra effort.
I track my speed on the speedometer at the bottom of the screen. I can’t really daydream or else I’ll go off the road or lose momentum. I’m getting better at knowing what the optimal speed is for each section of the track.
Because I’m riding my own bike I’m able to shift gears to maximize my efficiency. That helps me go faster, but only to a certain point, after which the limiter becomes my cardiovascular fitness.
So here’s today’s leaderboard. Three observations:
1. Shaving four one-hundredths of a second off of my best time required quite a bit of effort.
2. Publishing the leaderboard on this blog has been a big motivator. I cranked out an extra 20 minute ride and bettered my best time just so I could publish an extra ride’s worth of data today.
3. I don’t yet have a heartrate monitor, so I’m not tracking calories or pulse. I’ll pick one up and add this data to the leaderboard.
I’ll have to review my notes, but I recall someone saying that leaderboards are a big factor influencing player motivation. This concept obviously has implications for fitness gaming: my desire for leaderboard status might make me work out longer, hit higher calorie burn thresholds, or push my aching body harder (even though I’d rather not) just to improve my best time.
I decided to create my own leaderboard to chart my daily performance on the HeartRate Games bicycle game controller prototype. My goal is to see if tracking this information will improve my own exercise motivation. I will publish the information on this blog.
I’ll tell you a little bit about how I’m gathering information for the leaderboard.
The HeartRate Games prototype enables a player to pedal and steer their own bicycle through TORCS, an open-source car racing simulator. This is a great demo because we’ve taken a sedentary game and bolted our proprietary fitness gaming interface onto to the game code, thus turning it into a great fitness game that is super fun to play while riding a stationary bike. I rode it for 40 minutes today and could keep doing it longer because it’s a fun video game.
The screenshot below will give you an idea of what it looks like to play TORCS. Usually I’m playing with a view from slightly behind and above the car, but the TORCS website doesn’t have a good screenshot for this.
The leaderboard data I’m tracking is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen:
Here’s a closer view:
The challenging thing about playing this game on a bike is that you can’t rely on sheer physical output to increase your best track time. You have to get good at navigating the course in order to improve your best time. Go into a corner too fast and you’ll skid out or hit the wall. Go through it too slow and you’ll bleed off too much momentum and have to make it up with extra effort.
I track my speed on the speedometer at the bottom of the screen. I can’t really daydream or else I’ll go off the road or lose momentum. I’m getting better at knowing what the optimal speed is for each section of the track.
Because I’m riding my own bike I’m able to shift gears to maximize my efficiency. That helps me go faster, but only to a certain point, after which the limiter becomes my cardiovascular fitness.
So here’s today’s leaderboard. Three observations:
1. Shaving four one-hundredths of a second off of my best time required quite a bit of effort.
2. Publishing the leaderboard on this blog has been a big motivator. I cranked out an extra 20 minute ride and bettered my best time just so I could publish an extra ride’s worth of data today.
3. I don’t yet have a heartrate monitor, so I’m not tracking calories or pulse. I’ll pick one up and add this data to the leaderboard.
Employers Reward Healthful Behavior
04/06/09
Here’s an LA Times article about on the emerging trend of employers providing incentives to workers to exercise and take care of themselves.
And here’s a piece about a company in Tulsa that provides programs for employees as well as their family members. I like their rule about no company-funded soft drinks. They need to have another rule about no software developers keeping huge bowls of M&Ms in their cubicles to tempt fellow employees.
Analyst: "Immense" Consumer Demand for Fitness Games
03/30/09
I spent last Tuesday at the GamesBeat 09 conference on the future of the video game industry. Despite Wii Fit’s complete and total dominance of the game market, very little movement seems to be going on in fitness games other than a few investments by large game companies.
I did, at least, get one analyst to (very enthusiastically!) tell the audience that fitness games is going to be a huge market.
To see the video, go to the GamesBeat Website, click on the tab labeled “Games Beat Panels 2008”, select the video titled Analyst Shootout, then forward it to about 24:30. You’ll hear Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Morgan, answer my question about consumer demand for products at the intersection of fitness and video games.
The video is kind of slow and choppy, so here’s a transcript of his comments.
“The Wii audience is bifurcated between those who enjoy Nintendo games and fat housewives. I would say it’s about 50/50, so I think the audience (for fitness games) is immense.”
“Wii Fit keeps selling, every month. It is the #1 selling game.”
“People want to think that they’re exercising while they’re playing games. That market is immense. Jillian Michael’s Fitness Ultimatum, a piece of crap, sold 500,000 and I actually understand the number is close to a million.”
Burning Calories Instead of Hydrocarbons
03/30/09
I like learning about the design and construction of human-powered vehicles. I built my own kayak from a computer-designed kit and haul it from my house to Lake Washington on a bike trailer. These two guys take the idea of human-powered vehicles up a few levels:
The Adventures of Greg: Human-powered land vehicles and boats
Row for Hope: Paul Ridley’s trans-Atlantic solo row to raise money for cancer research
Forget Carrots, Just Play Video Games
03/29/09
An L.A. Times blog post summarizes a study published this week in Nature Neuroscience.
“People who played 50 hours of action video games showed significant improvement in contrast sensitivity function, a key aspect of vision.
“The researchers measured each player’s contrast sensitivity function before and after their training and found that people assigned to the shoot-'em-up games improved by an average of 58%. Those who played the Sims improved too, but not as much as those who played the action games, according to the study. The benefits lasted for months and even years.”
Chasing the Magic Number on the Scale
03/29/09
If you’re wondering why the bathroom scale in this picture is showing a reading of 20.1, it’s actually a device that displays the user’s body mass index as well as weight. So you get two depressing data points instead of one.
An Anchorage Daily News article and video describe the ongoing struggle of a “Biggest Loser” contestant to keep from gaining weight.
Excerpt:
The show's executive producer, Mark Koops, said "The Biggest Loser" was not meant to be a panacea for weight loss. It was meant to push people to confront bad behaviors and learn how to change. Contestants volunteer for the show because they want results. And if they work hard, they get them.
"They don't come on 'The Biggest Loser' because they are 350 pounds and happy," he said.
Contestants leave knowing how to eat better and to exercise. For some that's enough to change their lives. Many also confront emotional issues that lead them to overeat, even if counselling isn't part of the show's plan, he said. About half keep the weight off, he said.
Lynn Grefe, CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, sees it differently. Compulsive overeating is a disease, she said, with deep psychological roots. The show makes a spectacle of people's pain.
"Can you imagine doing that with cancer -- whose tumor is going to disappear faster?" she said. "My chemo versus your chemo?"
Wii Fit #1 Worldwide on Amazon.com
03/27/09
“Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five real-time Amazon.com sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide.
“Demand for Wii Fit and My Fitness Coach remains fever-pitched at Amazon, where both games finish this week as North America's two biggest-selling software titles across all platforms. Upcoming titles like Gold's Gym Cardio Workout and EA Sports Active also see a preorder sales boost in this week's results.”
McJournalists Take 10-Week Wii Fit Challenge
03/25/09
A couple of TV reporters in Honolulu have embarked upon a 10-week test to see if using Wii Fit will help them get in shape. So Nintendo gets ten weeks of free publicity in the Honolulu market from two good-looking and already fit young reporters who are essentially giving the audience a series of product demos.
Student Obesity Linked to Fast Food Proximity
03/23/09
A study shows that kids whose schools are close to fast food outlets are fatter than kids whose schools are farther away. Researchers compared body fat data from one million California high school kids over eight years.
“The presence of an outlet within easy walking distance of a high school -- about 530 feet or less -- resulted in a 5.2% increase in the incidence of student obesity compared with the average for California youths, a correlation deemed "sizable" according to the findings.”
At my high school we had a roach coach show up at lunchtime, so in theory I had daily access to burgers and fries. The reality was that I had no money and my mom packed my lunch every day (sandwich, piece of fruit, chips, dessert item). I had plenty of food to eat and never got fat.
Maybe “proximity” has as much to do with the options parents give their kids before they leave for school.
PBS Frontline - Exercise May Inhibit Parkinson's
03/20/09
I caught a bit of this Frontline episode last night. Well worth watching to understand how the disease is experienced on a personal level. Chapter 5 covers research being done at the University of Pittsburgh suggesting that a moderate amount of regular exercise protects monkey brains from the effects of a Parkinson’s-inducing toxin. Researchers have also found that exercise helps the body produce growth factors that improve brain performance and repair damaged neurons.
Wii Fit #1 Game in February
03/19/09
Wii Fit sold 770,000 units in January, and is #1 again in the US during February.
1. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (Nintendo, Wii) - 644,000
2. Street Fighter IV (Capcom, Xbox 360) - 446,000
3. Street Fighter IV (Capcom, PlayStation 3) - 403,000
4. Wii Play w/Remote (Nintendo, Wii) - 386,000
5. Killzone 2 (Sony, PlayStation 3) - 323,000
6. Mario Kart w/Wheel (Nintendo, Wii) - 263,000
7. Call Of Duty: World At War (Activision Blizzard, Xbox 360) - 193,000
8. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, DS) - 145,000
9. New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo, DS) - 144,000
10. Guitar Hero World Tour (Activision Blizzard, Wii) - 136,000
1. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (Nintendo, Wii) - 644,000
2. Street Fighter IV (Capcom, Xbox 360) - 446,000
3. Street Fighter IV (Capcom, PlayStation 3) - 403,000
4. Wii Play w/Remote (Nintendo, Wii) - 386,000
5. Killzone 2 (Sony, PlayStation 3) - 323,000
6. Mario Kart w/Wheel (Nintendo, Wii) - 263,000
7. Call Of Duty: World At War (Activision Blizzard, Xbox 360) - 193,000
8. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, DS) - 145,000
9. New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo, DS) - 144,000
10. Guitar Hero World Tour (Activision Blizzard, Wii) - 136,000
Exercise Cuts Depression in Overweight Kids
03/19/09
A study coming out in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology finds that 40 minutes of daily exercise has been found to be an optimal amount for reducing depression and improving self-esteem in overweight children. I can’t find the study on the journal website.
This reminds me of a 2005 study by the University of Texas that found exercise reduces moderate depression among adults.
Wii Fit Cardio for Gold's Gym
03/19/09
Bus Stop Ad Displays Your Weight
03/18/09
This bus stop advertisement in Amsterdam (apparently for a fitness club) displays a person’s weight when they sit on a nearby bench.
The Cost of Car vs. Bike Ownership
03/18/09
Here’s an interesting comparison of the financial cost of owning a car vs. going car free and maintaining a bicycle as a primary form of transportation. It indicates that families who can do without a car will free up a pretty astounding amount of after-tax income.
“In 2007, a statistically average household, with an annual pre-tax family income of $63,091 and 1.9 vehicles, spent more on transportation than it did on clothing, health care and entertainment combined ($7,432).”
By comparison, a New York group called Transportation Alternatives estimates the annual cost of bike ownership for a family to be about $1,000.
Given these numbers, incentive programs that get people to lose their cars would appear to be a no-brainer stimulus spending opportunity. A $2,500 tax incentive would free up almost $10,000 of after-tax income for a family willing to get rid of one car for a year.
In addition to freeing up a huge chunk of money for recession-strapped families, such an incentive would drive demand for public transit and car-sharing services, reduce pollution and get people walking and biking instead of driving.
I wonder what level of incentive spend would be needed to get a significant number of families to lose one or more cars. Seattle offers some incentives, but they seem pretty weak to me. The program used to offer $600 in cash, but then it got over-subscribed and was shut down. I’m assuming it’s a good idea that is just resource-constrained.
What about the health-related costs of a car-centric approach to transportation? I see lots of articles that imply a connection between higher car ownership rates and rising obesity or other health problems, but I haven’t seen a study that shows that people who rely on cars are more or less healthy than people who are car-free.
The book Inequalities of Health contains a chapter on transportation-related health issues, but it’s focused on accidents and air and noise pollution that affect people regardless of their mode of transportation.
A German study got lots of press this week showing that people who spend time in traffic (whether driving, on a bus, or on a bike) suffer increased chances of a heart attack.
MA Initiatives in Disease Prevention & Childhood Obesity
03/16/09
The Massachusetts public school system is starting to measure every child’s height and weight in order to make parents more aware of the problem.
Taking the Measure of Youth Obesity
Massachusetts is also looking at a couple of public health initiatives that will likely have some link to exercise incentives. The state is looking to reduce the cost of its comprehensive public healthcare program with a new method of reimbursing doctors and hosipitals that includes financial incentives to reward the prevention and effective control of chronic disease.
“The commission is looking at various options, but all would do away with the fee-for-service system, which provides perverse incentives by paying physicians and hospitals for each patient visit. The changes under consideration include reimbursing for episodes of care rather than individual visits and bundling payments to groups of providers who would together take responsibility for a patient’s health.”
Massachusetts Faces Costs of Big Health Care Plan
Healthcare organizations have already been experimenting with providing incentives to members to get them to exercise more often. Clicking this link will auto-download a pdf file summarizing a study by Medica that found cash incentives get their members to exercise more often, and those who met the exercise target of eight times per month had 33% lower monthly medical costs than members in a control group.
Taking the Measure of Youth Obesity
Massachusetts is also looking at a couple of public health initiatives that will likely have some link to exercise incentives. The state is looking to reduce the cost of its comprehensive public healthcare program with a new method of reimbursing doctors and hosipitals that includes financial incentives to reward the prevention and effective control of chronic disease.
“The commission is looking at various options, but all would do away with the fee-for-service system, which provides perverse incentives by paying physicians and hospitals for each patient visit. The changes under consideration include reimbursing for episodes of care rather than individual visits and bundling payments to groups of providers who would together take responsibility for a patient’s health.”
Massachusetts Faces Costs of Big Health Care Plan
Healthcare organizations have already been experimenting with providing incentives to members to get them to exercise more often. Clicking this link will auto-download a pdf file summarizing a study by Medica that found cash incentives get their members to exercise more often, and those who met the exercise target of eight times per month had 33% lower monthly medical costs than members in a control group.
The Second Life Secret to Losing Weight
03/11/09
This New York Times article isn’t fitness oriented but it contains an interesting reference to a weight loss-related study involving the use of avatars such as those employed by Second Life users. Click this link to auto-download a pdf copy of the study results.
“Scientists at Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab have found that avatars, with their artificial beauty and fantastical lifestyles, may represent more than wishful thinking on the part of the real people who create them; they may actually help bring those wishes to bear. People trying to lose weight are more apt to accomplish their goals when they spend time using a thin avatar.”
I haven’t read the study result in detail, but I’ve met a few Second Life and World of Warcraft fanatics and I can tell you they tend to be rather corpulent. I seriously doubt having a thin avatar will lead to behavior change that even begins to make up for hundreds of hours of sedentary game play activity.
Diets Don't do the Trick
03/08/09
This NEJM abstract was sent to me by an epidemiologist who is looking into exercise motivation to find tools that help combat childhood obesity. The article says that even with heavy support from trained healthcare professionals, it’s tough to lose weight and keep it off through diet alone.
I met Bob Greene (Oprah’s personal trainer) a few weeks back at a book signing he did in Seattle. I also met a couple of clients of his online diet and fitness support service, The Best Life. One guy had lost 150 lbs. through participation in the service, and another woman, who had lost far less, nonetheless raved about the community support she’d received. Maybe there’s an exercise component in there that wasn’t present in the NEJM study.
From the study abstract:
“...even these highly motivated, intelligent participants who were coached by expert professionals could not achieve the weight losses needed to reverse the obesity epidemic...It is obvious by now that weight losses among participants in diet trials will at best average 3 to 4 kg after 2 to 4 years and that they will be less among people who are poor or uneducated, groups that are hit hardest by obesity. We do not need another diet trial; we need a change of paradigm.”
From the New England Journal of Medicine
Car Sharing is a $100 Million Business
03/07/09
I got rid of my car two years ago with the goal of integrating more exercise into my daily routine. I live near downtown Seattle so it’s been surprisingly easy to walk, bike, or bus where ever I need to go. I use Zipcar to get to business meetings on the Eastside or visit Home Depot.
So far my experience has been very positive. I walk at least two miles a day during the winter, and come spring I bike all over town. I put my 17’ sea kayak on my bike trailer and pull it two miles to Lake Washington for a great cross-training workout.
When I owned a car it wasn’t unusual for me to drive six blocks to get my morning coffee. Now I use Zipcar only on those occasions when I absolutely need a car. I figure if I’m burning an extra 50 calories per day from walking and biking instead of driving, that’s 10 lbs I’ve kept off over two years.
NY Times Article: Share My Ride
At 44, a Running Career Again in Ascent
02/26/09
“Somebody told me you don’t know who you are until you do a 100-miler,” Carpenter said. “I said, ‘Damned if I’m going to die and not know who I am.’ ”
New York Times Article
Wii Fit is #1 in January Game Sales
02/18/09
Nintendo’s Wii Fit was the #1 selling video game product in January, selling 770,000 units worldwide. That’s over 300,000 more units than the #2 product (also a Wii game).
NPD analyst Anita Frazier notes the continued success of games released months ago and tells how this data implies new consumers are still discovering the industry. "Only two of the top 10 games this month were new releases," said Frazier. "The continued strength of games that have been in the market for some time clues us in to just how many new consumers are coming into the industry. This broadening of the audience for gaming will help buoy the industry through these tough economic times, provided they have enough compelling content to keep them interested."
TOP-SELLING SOFTWARE - JANUARY 2009
Title / Publisher / Units
1) Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (Wii) / Nintendo / 777,000
2) Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) / Nintendo / 415,000
3) Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel (Wii) / Nintendo / 292,000
NPD analyst Anita Frazier notes the continued success of games released months ago and tells how this data implies new consumers are still discovering the industry. "Only two of the top 10 games this month were new releases," said Frazier. "The continued strength of games that have been in the market for some time clues us in to just how many new consumers are coming into the industry. This broadening of the audience for gaming will help buoy the industry through these tough economic times, provided they have enough compelling content to keep them interested."
TOP-SELLING SOFTWARE - JANUARY 2009
Title / Publisher / Units
1) Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (Wii) / Nintendo / 777,000
2) Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) / Nintendo / 415,000
3) Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel (Wii) / Nintendo / 292,000
Restaurant Food Makes you Fat
02/04/09
I’ve been noticing calorie counts being added to menus at restaurants and coffee shops in the Seattle area. A 12oz cup of Tully’s coffee weighs in at 4 calories.
Trainers help contestants on The Biggest Loser learn to adjust their relationship with food.
“Twenty minutes in the kitchen will save you three hours on the StairMaster” said Devin Alexander, a chef in Los Angeles who developed the recipes for the cookbooks. “You can’t trust restaurant food to be low fat.”
Indoor Bicycle Racing is Growing in Popularity
02/01/09
Roller Racing Sizzles in Chilly Climates
Indoor bike racing is growing in popularity among bike messengers and urban cyclists. HeartRate Games got its start when our founder was riding indoors on his bike trainer during a rainy Seattle day and thought “Why can't I play a video game while I'm riding indoors?"
Indoor bike racing is growing in popularity among bike messengers and urban cyclists. HeartRate Games got its start when our founder was riding indoors on his bike trainer during a rainy Seattle day and thought “Why can't I play a video game while I'm riding indoors?"
Wii Fit Sells 300,000 Units in One Week
01/30/09
Nintendo sells 300,000 units of Wii Fit in the US during the last week of January. 14 million units worldwide since launch.
Nintendo has captured overwhelming mindshare as *the* fitness gaming platform, and not just among consumers. Most of the game developers and publishers I talk to automatically think our product makes most sense on the Wii, even though our product would work just as well on the 360 or PS2/3. EA's Sports Active is "exclusively for the Wii".
Health Games Grants
01/15/09
A second call for proposals has been issued by Health Games Research, a program of the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation. HeartRate Games is talking to a potential university partner about teaming up on a proposal.
Expresso Fitness Ramps Up the PR Machine
01/13/09
Expresso Fitness has been ramping up their pr machine. I met with them a few months ago and rode one of their bikes. A good group of people with strong VC support that is setting them up to rapidly increase their share the stationary bike market with gyms and high-end consumers.
They’re not priced to be a mass-market product as they integrate a custom Windows PC and flat panel display into the device. Their game development is done in-house. I found their current suite of games to be more fitness-oriented (bike riding) instead of entertainment-oriented, which is common among other early fitness gaming companies with fitness roots (like TacX).
They’re not priced to be a mass-market product as they integrate a custom Windows PC and flat panel display into the device. Their game development is done in-house. I found their current suite of games to be more fitness-oriented (bike riding) instead of entertainment-oriented, which is common among other early fitness gaming companies with fitness roots (like TacX).
Wii Games Don't Burn Enough Calories
01/10/09
A British Medical Journal study evaluates the calorie-burning effectiveness of playing various Nintendo Wii games.
"Playing new generation active computer games uses significantly more energy than playing sedentary computer games but not as much energy as playing the sport itself. The energy used when playing active Wii Sports games was not of high enough intensity to contribute toward the recommended daily amount of exercise in children."
So kids need to be outside running around, or doing some kind of energy-intensive activity if they insist on playing video games. DDR is the only mass-market fitness gaming solution we're aware of that combines good ergonomics with high exercise intensity.
The abstract page contains links to other Wii-related health studies.