News

Faculty of Sport Sciences creates an iPhone app for managing health
Share

Faculty of Sport Sciences creates an iPhone app for managing health

Wed, Jul 27, 2016
Faculty of Sport Sciences creates an iPhone app for managing health
Share

Is your health at risk? Find out with an individualized, health management application

A research team led by Professsor Yasuo Kawakami at the Faculty of Sport Sciences (members of the Kawakami Laboratory and Health Grid, Inc.) launched an iPhone application “MetaboWatch.” They plan on using this application to collect data on exercise activities, diet, lifestyle habits, and physical features of Japanese nationals.

The app determines your estimated body fat percentage and gives advice

Available for free download at the App Store, MetaboWatch was created using Apple’s ResearchKit, an open source framework for supporting medical and health research. The application’s objective is to acquire massive health data from the larger population ranging in age and lifestyle habits and conduct a big data analysis to provide customized health management methods for individuals using MetaboWatch. It also aims for its users to become more self-conscious of their own health conditions.

Skeletal muscles decrease with age, leading to a decrease in muscle mass and low physical activities. This change is known as sarcopenia, and it is associated with metabolic syndrome as body fat accumulates in combination with unhealthy eating habits. Epidemiologist Richard N. Baumgarter at the University of Louisville states that sarcopenia and metabolic syndrome is closely related to life expectancy.

In order to suggest an appropriate diet and amount of exercise, MetaboWatch will investigate the physical activity level, diet, lifestyle habits, and physical and functional features of the larger Japanese population ranging in age, making contributions to society as a whole. Also, from a biological perspective, it intends to conduct research on human’s circadian rhythm and how it is affected by physical characteristics and lifestyle habits on an individual basis.

メタボウォッチ_スクリーンショット_3

Recording waist measurements

At this time, an experiment will be conducted on healthy men and women over the age of 20 who have agreed to participate. The participants will answer some questions on their physical condition (such as lifestyle and eating habits, simple anthropometric data, etc.) in MetaboWatch. They will also be required to download Apple’s HealthKit (installed in all post-iOS8 models), an application which records the user’s exercise amount (number of steps and distance) and daily anthropometric data (waist measurement, etc.). The participants will immediately receive feedback from MetaboWatch regarding their estimated body shape characteristics along with advice on exercise and diet. Through this new application, the research team aspires to develop research on establishing individualized health management based on big data analysis and promote MetaboWatch to users as a tool for improving lifestyle and health habits.

(ResearchKit, iPhone, Apple, App Store are registered by Apple Inc.)

For more information, contact:
Yasuo Kawakami Laboratory
(Attn: Research Associate Fumiko Tanaka)
Faculty of Sport Sciences
Waseda University

phone: 04-2947-6945
e-mail: [email protected]


Social Media

  • facebook

    facebook

  • twitter

    X

  • youtube

    youtube

  • linkedin

    LinkedIn

Giving

Your generosity can make a difference and bring rippling impact

No matter the size, every single gift will make a difference in helping students afford an academic experience that will transform their lives, as well as promoting frontline research to resolve complex challenges of the world today.

More About Giving