Exciting news! You can get up to $ 300 off your yearly health insurance premiums if you walk every day.
A 64-year-old resident Costa Mesa got this offer from her employer, Auto Club Southern California Company. Thus she committed to walking every day around her neighborhood with her dogs – Kona, and Max.
Previously, she was never engaged in regular exercise, especially after a tiring day at work. But this offer, made three years ago from the Auto Club of Southern California was hard to refuse, both for her and for her colleagues.
64-year-old Klute-Nelson thought getting into little groups and walking around will have a positive impact on her health.
Now she is among the millions of Americans, using wearable fitness devices such as Fitbits. Those fitness devices track an assortment of personal information, from movement and sleep patterns to blood pressure and heart beats.
An estimated 6 million workers worldwide will receive fitness trackers within the workplace wellness programs, which motivates them to get up and move after sitting so many hours at the workplace.
These voluntary programs offer workers free or discounted wearable trackers and annual financial motives up to $2000, depending on the company.
UnitedHealth care spokesman Will Shanley believes this makes financial sense to companies, offering workers to get fit. Having healthy workers will lessen the insurance cost and will be more productive.
The acronym FIT promotes three walking goals the health insurance giant offers to employees. Frequency, intensity, and tenacity.
The programs participation rates are higher among people with chronic deceases, such as diabetes. The studies conducted in 2016 by the University of Pittsburgh showed the effectiveness of the program. Adults, who used fitness trackers in the study lost less weight than those in a control group who self-reported their exercise and diet.
This study results created some doubts about the effectiveness of the program. However, the clinicians are trying to find out the most effective ways of using this technology.
There is no doubt, the program gives adults an access to an app for making virtual doctor’s appointment instead of going into an office or clinic for minor issues. This is something Klute –Nelson and other participants are very happy about.
Regardless of how effective FIT will be, it certainly served as a huge motivation for adults to get active.
