Increasing your Activity

One of my colleag ues and I are trying out a new technology that is aimed at increasing non-exercise activity.  According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 60% of adults in the U.S. are overweight or obese.  Studies conducted over the last 20 years to determine both the causes of obesity and the reasons for the continued increase in the U.S. obesity rates determined that our society has become more sedentary, that non-exercise movement has decreased to a point where many Americans are taking in more calories than they are able to burn. The belief is that the key to reversing this obesity trend is to add physical movement back into a person's day. This is not "organized exercise" such as running or working out but rather it is taking the stairs, walking and generally being more active.

The Gruve device is a small omnidirectional accelerometer that measures activity intensity and duration.  It provides a personalized, quantifiable measure of activities and the calories burned throughout the day.  Synchronizing the device with the Gruve web site gives you the ability to view your own daily calorie burn and track your weight loss progress.  The device also tracks your progress towards your daily goal and lets you know with a colored light system how you are progressing.  You can get more information on this interesting solution for increasing activity at www.muveit.com/ .  We will keep you posted on our evaluation.