If, like countless others, you are addicted to your iPhone, here’s one of the ways that it could help make you healthier. By taking it out for a walk. Well, that is, if you download a new app called Healthy (imaginative, eh?), developed by O2 Health. Unveiled at Cancer Research UK’s Shine event (the walking night-time marathon that was held on October 1st), Healthy is designed to make walking more fun. And as we all know, 10,000 steps a day is the holy grail of activities, so making it more fun can only be a good thing.
So what does it do? It tracks how far you walk and can display your progress by showing where you’ve walked on a map and telling you how many calorties you’ve burned. Okay, you can get fit and increase your activity levels without it, but here’s the best part. It’s free.
“Healthy is the first consumer-focused product from O2 Health and represents our commitment to using technology to help people live healthy and more active lifestyles,” says Keith Nurcombe, managing director of O2 Health.
The app has the backing of Cancer Research UK too, which can’t be at all bad. “It’s fantastic that O2 Health have launched this app at Shine London,” says Vicki Blake, Cancer Research UK’s Shine event manager. “Walking more is a great way to increase your level of physical activity – and being physically active helps to reduce the risk of cancers of the bowel, breast and womb, as well as other serious diseases.”
So there you are. Download it from the App Store (and if you have an Android phone, a version is in development) and get walking
It’s not every day something comes along that’s good for your health AND doesn’t cost you anything, is it?