Why health trackers became mainstream

All this health tracking might not be actually very...healthy.

There's a lot of evidence that health tracking can be good for us. Studies have shown that fitness trackers are effective at increasing physical activity, and can pretty accurately detect issues like arrhythmia. And now they're getting a promotional boost from some very influential people: Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and doctor and wellness influencer Casey Means – President Trump's nominee for surgeon general and founder of Levels Health, a company that analyzes data from continuous glucose monitors. But even as health wearables have benefits – how do they fit into the Make America Healthy Again vision for health? What does all this data really do for us – and who else could access it?

Brittany is joined by Adam Clark Estes, senior technology correspondent at Vox, and Lindsay Gellman, a freelance journalist who reports on health and business, to get into it.

Want more about modern health? Check out these episodes:
Were Americans actually healthier in the past?
The difference between losing weight & being "healthy" 
Exercise is more important than ever

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