Market
In a recently published report, PriceWaterhouse Coopers (PWC) estimates that the annual consumer market for remote mobile health monitoring devices is $7.7 – $43 Billion. Devices for measuring weight, blood sugar, and vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate, as well as measuring calories are the most in demand.
In the USA alone 72 million adults are obese (defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher), 84.8 million adults have no leisure-time physical activity, and the total health care cost related to obesity sits at an estimated $147 billion. Obesity is an ongoing concern for both children and adults. Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, according to a report from the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25 percent. Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges the US has ever faced.
The federal government and many states are undertaking a wide range of policy initiatives to address the obesity crisis.
- Twenty states have passed requirements for body mass index screenings of children and adolescents or have passed legislation requiring other forms of weight and/or fitness related assessments in schools. Five years ago, only four states had passed screening requirements.
- The new health reform law’s Prevention and Public Health Fund provides $15 billion in mandatory appropriations for public health and prevention programs over the next 10 years.
As a result of this large scale problem, demand for portable health products is poised to increase substantially in the next five years. Market research indicates that over 700 Million portable medical devices will be sold by 2015. The IMS/Medical market research group estimate that the market in the US for portable heart monitors currently exceeds $2B, and that the market for portable glucose monitors also exceeds $2B. A variety of new products including bathroom scales, heart monitors, glucose monitors, are poised to experience significant increase in demand. The world bathroom scales market is poised to reach $3.2 billion by 2015.
This is driven both by the need to deal with the obesity problem and the resultant rise in demand for body fat analyzers. There is also growing awareness that body fat percentage is a superior and a more precise indicator of health than weight. Furthermore product usage and need ranks especially high among patients with chronic congestive heart conditions, since these patients require continuous monitoring of their body fat. This requires continuous monitoring and data gathering in a simple and easy way.
New and continuous product innovations, improvements and upgrades are demanded by consumers and this will take demand to the next level for those manufacturers able to innovate rapidly and meet these new demands. Digital portable scales, which offer the flexibility of any time, anywhere use, will provide the much needed convenience and portability in modern fast paced lifestyles. Talking scales, which read out results, illustrates another thoughtful innovation for the aging, less agile, and visually challenged elderly users incapable of bending down to read the results displayed on the screen of a bathroom scale. The level of data requested and needed by users is not currently being delivered by existing vendors. Bathroom scales aren’t just in demand with obese consumers. Fitness-focused and health-conscious shoppers are increasingly looking for feature-packed scales that mesh with a digital lifestyle. Body-fat analysis and the ability to sync with computers or smartphones are examples of these features.
The world bathroom scales market is being driven by the growing demand from health conscious consumers focused on maintaining good shape and increasing awareness that body fat percentage is a more precise and superior indicator of health in contrast to body weight. Further, favorable demographics such as rapidly growing population of aged people are poised to result in increased sales of bathroom scales. The need as well as usage of bathroom scales is significantly growing among patients suffering from chronic congestive heart disease that need regular monitoring of their body fat. Exercisers and dieters also show special interest towards fat scale analyzers that facilitate body fat measurement and differentiate between weight loss and fat loss.
