More than half of all Australians are now using digital tools to track their overall health, from food intake to steps and sleep.
The findings, from the fourth edition of the Living Healthier Report from Woolworths Group health and wellness platform, Healthylife, highlight the opportunities for harnessing the digital world for better health.
The research found more and more Australians are turning to digital tools:
- 56% of people use digital health tools to track aspects of their health.
- 25% of people who track their health track steps. Users of activity trackers and apps, on average, take 2000 more steps per day.
- 16% use sleep-tracking devices such as watches or rings.
“Improving sleep was the number one non-food related concern for Australians and it’s exciting to see how digital tools can help us better understand our sleep patterns,” said Simone Austin, Chief Health Officer of Healthylife.
“This can help keep us more accountable to our sleep routines, as well as provide valuable information to health professionals to be alerted to any possible serious sleep concerns,” she said.
People are also embracing digital technologies to access health information and care:
- 32% of people read health advice online from articles.
- 16% of people get health advice from a health professional via telehealth.
- 21% of people seek advice from qualified health professionals on social media.
With 9% sourcing advice from ‘influencers’ on social media, the findings highlight the importance of ensuring quality, evidence-based health information is accessible to all.
“We must encourage people to seek advice from trained and registered health professionals online and in person to ensure they are following evidence-based recommendations,” said Sarah Gray, Chief of Health Operations and Innovation at Healthylife.
Supporting healthy eating
The report also shows Australians are buying more vegetables. There has been a slight increase in vegetable purchases, with potatoes, tomatoes, frozen vegetables, canned vegetables and carrots making up the majority of the vegetable purchases.
“However, we still have a long way to go to make sure we’re meeting the recommended daily 5-6 serves of vegetables, as our data shows that Australians are currently only purchasing 2.8 serves per day,” said Ms Austin.
“Eating one additional serving of vegetables a day, can reduce the risk of long-term illness by 1%.”
The research shows that a healthy shop can be cheaper. When shoppers align their weekly shop to the Australian Dietary Guidelines they can save on average, 8%, or around $20 every week.
The report lists the top five food priorities for the next 12 months:
- Eat more vegetables.
- Cook more healthy meals at home.
- Eat more fruit.
- Reduce sugar intake.
- Cut down on confectionery.
Woolworths has an ongoing commitment to increasing healthier choices in customers’ baskets. From including the Healthier Options tool for Woolworths online shopping, to working hard to introduce more healthier foods in their Own Brand range.
Food Tracker by Healthylife provides shoppers with insight into how their grocery shopping compares to the Australian Dietary Guidelines, including how many serves of each of the core food groups and discretionary foods are purchased. An incentive offering shoppers 5-times Everyday Reward points on fruit and vegetable purchases at Woolworths in May 2024 saw an average 10% increase in fruit and vegetable serves purchased.
