Apple has announced a new Watch feature called Health Age, arriving later this year. It guesses how old your body seems based on your fitness and health data.
The Verge columnist Victoria Song is not convinced. She lists the age scores from her own gadgets: Whoop says 42, Garmin says 36.5 and her smart bed says 38.7. Her real age is 38.
Song says the numbers rarely agree with each other. She argues the label matters more than the maths.
🔍 The Backstory
Wearable makers have sold these scores for years. Whoop has a ‘Whoop age’, Oura has a ‘cardiovascular age’, Garmin has a ‘fitness age score’ and Withings sells ‘longevity intelligence’ features.
Companies use different formulas, so results cannot be compared. Song says her Whoop age is high because the maths weights heavy lifting, and she was doing more cardio.
Scores also miss a lot. You can pass every metric and still find your cholesterol is very high, or get a health problem your genes had already loaded.
🎯 Why It Matters
These scores can nudge you toward better habits, but they are not medical tests. Treating a made-up number as a health verdict can cause needless worry.
Apple has announced a new Watch feature called Health Age, arriving later this year. It guesses how old your body seems based on your fitness and health data.
The Verge columnist Victoria Song is not convinced. She lists the age scores from her own gadgets: Whoop says 42, Garmin says 36.5 and her smart bed says 38.7. Her real age is 38.
Song says the numbers rarely agree with each other. She argues the label matters more than the maths.
Wearable makers have sold these scores for years. Whoop has a ‘Whoop age’, Oura has a ‘cardiovascular age’, Garmin has a ‘fitness age score’ and Withings sells ‘longevity intelligence’ features.
Companies use different formulas, so results cannot be compared. Song says her Whoop age is high because the maths weights heavy lifting, and she was doing more cardio.
Scores also miss a lot. You can pass every metric and still find your cholesterol is very high, or get a health problem your genes had already loaded.
These scores can nudge you toward better habits, but they are not medical tests. Treating a made-up number as a health verdict can cause needless worry.