American Diabetes Association (ADA) members are getting free access to a Withings smart scale and live coaching as part of a push to reduce diabetes risk and raise awareness.
The device and coaching access were distributed starting this month, thanks to Withings’ professional health unit, Withings Health Solutions, which signed on as national sponsor of ADA’s Project Power lifestyle change initiative. Through education, the program aims to tackle prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in high-risk and vulnerable communities nationwide. The Body Comp Scale, which retails for about $200, measures multiple biomarkers, including cardiovascular and electrodermal activity. The coaching, provided both in-person and online, is powered by ADA partner HabitNu.
In tandem, participants can get daily information not only on their weight but also on their overall health and be better equipped to understand their trends. Withings and the ADA hope that, with HabitNu’s personalized “nudges,” members can build healthier habits that can prevent and manage their diabetes.
“We are really proud to be partnering with the ADA and excited about the promising impact that Body Comp could have on Project Power and its participants,” stated Antoine Robiliard, VP of Withings Health Solutions. “By exploring new measurements with coherent coaching, we help to ensure the people eagerly collect and act on the health information that previously may be missed.”
Withings’ involvement promises to elevate the Project Power participant experience, added Sherry Hill, program director for the initiative.
“By bringing smart scale technology into our participants’ homes, we hope to provide personalized solutions to achieve healthier living goals to reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes and help prevent or delay its complications,” Hill said.
Body Comp measures body fat and visceral fat (the fat around abdominal organs), as well as two so-called wellness measurements. Those are vascular age (a daily assessment of arterial health and overall wellness) and electrodermal activity (a score that measures and assesses the sweat gland activity in the feet).
The ADA itself recommends annual foot exams to prevent foot complications. According to Withings, having a tool that provides a regular checkup of electrodermal activity could be a way for the coaches delivering the Project Power program to encourage participants to perform their annual foot check ups with their doctors.
April 25, 2023, 2:17 PM
