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Nicholas Richardson Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 April 8, 2013 Is the Internet the Future of Health and Fitness? Growing up as an overweight child was difficult. I was always self-conscious, and on occasion was picked on. I had tried for a long time to lose weight, but it always seemed to elude me. I began turning to Internet searches to finding out how to better my weight and overall heath. Over time I began to lose weight, using the seemingly all-powerful Internet to gain knowledge of my health, to gain knowledge of how to become more fit. I eventually got to the point where I had lost a substantial amount of weight. I feel as though it is safe to say this would have never happened had I not used the Internet to take the first steps to becoming a health conscious person. In a society where the Internet is progressively becoming the norm for everything from shopping to learning, I am curious if it is also the future of health and fitness. Meaning that people will begin turning to the Internet to better their knowledge of health and fitness, rather than turn to a personal trainer, or maybe the people will begin using the internet to learn more about healthcare, and begin more self-diagnosis. I want to know if there is a growing number of people using the Internet to gain knowledge of their health? There is a problem in the United States of America. Obesity is becoming a growing epidemic. Obesity is responsible for multiple health issues, including but not limited to, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, and much more. With the Internet being an almost all knowing tool, it is a safe question to ask whether or not it is the source for the future of health and fitness information. Robin A. Cohen, who has a Ph.D and is

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very knowledgeable of this subject, due to multiple articles talking about adult use of the Internet for information on health and fitness, mentions, Research has shown that 74% of all U.S. adults use the Internet, and 61% have looked for health or medical information on the Internet (Cohen). This is proof that many people use the Internet to find information on the Internet to better their health. That stat is only talking about people using the Internet. It is safe there are more people using apps on their smart phones to gain information on their health. Apps is a shortened version of the word Application. These apps can be easily opened on a smart cell phone and used to count calories for various foods eaten throughout the day, they can show workouts, and can calculate such health related information such as BMI (Body Mass Index), which is a measure of weight vs. height. (BMI does not account for excessive amounts of muscle mass, however is helpful for most people trying to figure out where they stand in the sphere of personal health.) These apps include Jefit, Livestrong.com, and All-in Fitness pro. To use Livestrong.com someone must have an Internet connection, while the apps All-in Fitness Pro and Jefit do not require an Internet connection at all times. All of these are free, and have large numbers of people using them to gain knowledge of their health. Percent of US adults, age 18 and above, that have used the Internet to find information of health care in the past 12 months (Cohen).

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Clearly a large percentage of people use the Internet to gain information on their health, particularly women between ages 18 and 65. This information could be enough to make the conclusion that the Internet is, in fact, the future. However, there are some problems. The main problem facing information of the Internet dealing with health and fitness is the validity of the source. A Fact Sheet by the National Cancer Institute, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, states The popularity of the Internet has made it easier and faster to find health information. Much of this information is valuable; however, the Internet also allows rapid and widespread distribution of false and misleading information (Evaluating). This fact is where people looking up information for health information need to be careful. The wrong information can easily lead to information that doesnt help people, and along with that it can be transmitted incredibly quickly over the Internet. This information can be dangerous because people start using this false information to better their health, however this wrong knowledge could lead to someone making a mistake which could eventually worsen their health, and could possibly hurt them.

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Dr. Lee Ritterband is an Associate Professor and Director of the Behavioral Health & Technology lab at the University of Virginia Health System in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences. He is also a co-founder and VP of Research and Development of BeHealth Solutions, LLC. Dr. Ritterband, in his article The Future of Health Care: Using the Internet to Deliver Health Interventions says, So if Internet interventions sound good, get ready. Researchers around the U.S. and throughout the world have been working on online programs for over a decade (Ritterband). Not only are people beginning to use the Internet to gain information of health and fitness, they can also use it to diagnose problems. As Dr. Ritterband mentioned, Internet interventions are quickly becoming a reality. These Internet interventions include using the Internet to log on to a website where someone could talk to their doctor, or enter what is wrong and get possible evaluations of their problem. There is already a similar web page offering services like this called WebMD.com. This ability to gain information about health and fitness is not in any way limited to the United States. The NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) today announces plans to help up to 100,000 more people to use the Internet to improve their health (Up to 100,000). This is going to be very helpful in introducing many more people to learning more about leading healthful lifestyles. There are issues, however, to pushing the Internet on this many people. Such as, many people they are trying to help are not at all tech savvy. The NHS Commissioning Board is concerned that those who experience the greatest health inequalities and who have the greatest need of NHS services - are least likely to be online. People over the age of 65 account for more than half of NHS spending, but 36% of those over the age of 65 have never been online before and half of the 8 million people who have never used the Internet have a disability. Homeless people, travellers and some rural communities experience health

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inequalities and poor health but often also lack access to online services (Up). This is very good that the Government is helping such a large number of people learn to use the Internet to help themselves, however they have an obstacle in reaching these people with no Internet, or no technological knowledge. They can address this by setting up learning clinics for the elderly. Another aspect of the use of the Internet to gain information on health and fitness involves the demographics. Dr. Cohen has multiple graphs showing different demographics: Percent of people from each of the predominant race in the U.S. that use the Internet to gain information on health and fitness (Cohen).

Percent of people with varying levels of education that use the Internet to gain information on health and fitness (Cohen).

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Percent of people using the Internet to gain information on health and fitness based on income (Cohen). (FPL stands for Federal Poverty Level)

According to these graphs the people making more money, with the higher educations, use the Internet more to gain information on health and fitness. After exploring whether or not the Internet is the future of health and fitness, I now believe it is. It is being pushed for world wide, particularly in the UK, where they are helping people use the Internet to better their knowledge of health information. It is now considered the future of healthcare; Dr. Ritterband speaks about how the Internet will soon be used to find

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health interventions. Dr. Cohen talks directly about this topic, mentioning exact percentages for how many people of different demographics use the Internet to gain information on health and fitness. I believe we need to advertise use of the Internet even more, making sure to get a handle on the obesity problem we face in America. With the Internet growing as a source people use to gain information of health and fitness, maybe this weight epidemic in the U.S. will be solved in an effective manner. I now understand how widespread the use of the Internet is to better peoples knowledge of health and fitness, with 61% of all U.S. adults using the Internet to gain information about their health, it is clear that the Internet is the future of health and fitness. I believe that with the Internet here, as long as the sources are valid, we can face the obesity problem in America.

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Works Cited Cohen, Robin A., Ph.D, and Patricia F. Adams. "Use of the Internet for Health Information: United States, 2009." Center for Disease Control, July 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.

"Evaluating Health Information on the Internet." Cancer.gov. National Cancer Institute, 6 Mar. 1996. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.

Ritterband, Dr. Lee. "The Future of Health Care: Using the Internet to Deliver Health Interventions." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.

"Up to 100,000 People Use the Internet to Improve Their Health." NHS Commissioning Board. National Health Service, 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.