I got a new watch for Christmas. It tells me how far I walk each day, how many calories I burn off through movement and it reminds me to stand up and move around every hour. It rewards me when I meet the targets set for me each day and quietly ignores me if I don’t. This is one of the many hundreds of apps available to us on phones, tablets and, increasingly, on body worn devices. We can measure our BMI, count calories, track the speed and distance we run, walk or cycle, monitor our blood pressure, play tunes to let us know how long to clean our teeth for and perform countless other acts of self-surveillance. We are also being encouraged to share the data we create with friends, posting maps of our runs or step counts on social media. Does the rise of the app represent a triumph of libertarian paternalism in the form of nudge-based public health interventions? ………click here to read the full post on the Cost of Living Blogsite.
