Fitbit Marketing Opportunity: Diabetes & Heart Disease

[CeeGee5]

I think you are missing a great marketing opportunity.  I've looked at your literature and it seems you are targeting younger people who are interested in fitness and health monitoring.  Great! This is certainly needed - especially for today's young children!   BUT - I have a group of friends in their 60's to 80's who are intrigued by the FitBit and are waiting for me to finish testing it (plus waiting until I order the Premium to see what it does).  These are people who are diabetic or who have heart disease and whose doctors are being adamant about tracking their exercise, sleeping well, consuming more water and more nutritious food consumption.  So along with calories, fats, protein, fiber, carbs, sodium  - they want to track SUGAR AND CHOLESTEROL, Sugar, in particular, is a major issue in this country so I'm amazed it isn't part of the main food stats.  Many are tracking these issues laboriously (along with daily Glucose/BP measurements) using Excel spread sheets.  They haven't been able to find one device that will do it all.  The FitBit comes the closest and so they are excited about it. You did tell me how to add sugar as my one custom tracker - but it's an awkward and cumbersome process.

I don't have the full results of my testing and have yet to try the Premium package (before I buy it) and give my friends a verdict on how they can more easily provide themselves and their doctors with details and overviews in weekly, monthly, cumulative and yearly data.

I simply ask you to consider expanding your marketing to include the health problems of the elderly and how your product can provide a beneficial aid to their efforts to stay as healthy for as long as possible. This would also provide people with these problems a way to share their problems, solutions, and queries using the same platform.   I would be surprised if you don't get a great response.

CeeGee5

[Odyssey13]

@CeeGee5I agree with you. FitBit works for all ages, all stages of health and fitness.

[rbailen15]

VERY GOOD POINT!

[rkowach]

Good point, but until it is all incorporated into one, there are apps that measure all of that that coinside with Fitbit.  One for example is "Lose it".

Thanks and BTW, I'm a diabetic and all of my meters have the ability to program all of that information into them

[PhilW]

The Fitbit logs will log Heartrate BP and Glucose.  Are you asking for Fitbit to make the meters or at least a conduit to other tracking devices outside of their own or just a way to track the information in one app.

I agree Fitbit needs more devices for more monitoring or at least a partnership.

[BBaQer]

There are blood glucose meters on the market, such as Bayer Contour next "link", the can communicate via bluetooth. The device could be modified to upload to phone apps and then be synced with home computers, and give average's comparable to a person's HbA1c(90 day blood glucose average.)

[Dihard]

My husband has used Fitbit for a year now.  He gifted me one for Xmas mainly because of the glucose tab he has on his log. I openned mine & no glucose tab..I am the one who is diabetic, not him...Please consider reestablishing the glucose tab.  It would be so helpful to see a graph of my numbers.

Thank you

[lyro]

You don't have the Glucose tab on your software?  Which fitbit do you have?  I have the Flex and I have the Glucose tab.  I want to upgrade to the Charge HR, but I don't want to lose any tabs that I have now.  Can you give me more info. please.

[Odyssey13]

@Dihardand @lyro  The Fitbit log area changed at the end of September 2014. Those who were registered users before that date have the glucose and journal areas.

Lyro, if you replace your Flex with the Charge HR, the log area should remain the same. Actually from what I've heard, the Charge HR will have another area, for the heart rate recordings.

[lyro]

Thanks for the reply Odyssey13. I wonder why they would choose to remove a feature that could be so useful to a lot of people.  I heard someone else mention they didn't have a journal tab.  Maybe that was part of the same update.  Again, I'm sure many people would find that tab helpful as well.

[lyro]

Oh, just re-read and saw you mentioned the journal tab too

[CeeGee5]

Some things are only available if you pay for the Premium reports. But I
have some problems with those reports too (i.e. none of the data I enter
manually regarding recumbant bike and treadmiles miles and time aren't added
to the regular reports.) In addition, for some strange reason SUGAR is not
included in the regular reports. Sugar is a HUGE issue, not just for
seniors - but for everybody, particularly with the huge increase in diabetes
among young people.
CeeGee

[Dihard]

We both have a zip. The website says the glucose tab is not available after Sept 2014. Seems like I would need a glucose tab more than how much I sleep. I only have 4 tabs where my hubby - his is a yr old- has 7 tabs.
Dihard

[windrider55]

Solution to Blood Glucose and Blood Pressure logging on iPhone iOS 9.1.

iPhone now has a Health App with which you can manually log your Blood Glucose and Blood Pressure.

Unfortunately, FitBit doesn't sync with Apple's Health App.

Fortunately there is a 3rd party app ($3) called HealthSync for FitBit by Jaiyo https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/health-sync-for-fitbit-heart/id972442064?mt=8

(There's another one which from the reviews doesn't seem as good.)

Also unfortunate, is the Apple Health App doesn't have as nice graphs as FitBit app, but at least you can look at everything in one place now.

[windrider55]

 One caveat with Fitbit Sync app: On ocassion, all the Apple Health data will suddenly disappear.

Not to fear: you just need to turn your iPhone off and then back on.  Apparently, this is a long standing bug...