SINGAPORE, June 12 — Wearable technology company Fitbit said that Singaporean users of its devices saw their resting heart rate improve from January to April this year. This is despite a significant drop in their overall step count due to the country’s circuit breaker that restricted movement of people.
In a press release yesterday, Fitbit said that Singaporean users’ average resting heart rate — which the company said is a key indicator of heart health — lowered across all demographics, but was especially pronounced for female users between 18 and 29 years old, which saw a drop of 1.68 beats a minute. Female users between 30 and 49 years old saw the rate decline by 1.43 beats per minute, for example.
Among males, those aged 50 to 64 saw the biggest improvement, with their average resting heart rate dropping by 1.49 beats a minute, followed by those aged 30 to 49, with the rate dropping by 1.37 beats a minute.
Fitbit could not provide specific data on what the heart rates were and how many users were part of the study. The insights were “gleaned from anonymised and aggregated global user data,” it added, attributing the improved heart rate to longer sleeping hours as well as improvements to inconsistent bedtimes.
The resting heart rate can be an “important indicator of one’s fitness level and heart health”, Fitbit said, and is measured by the number of times the heart beats a minute when the person is still and at rest.
The company known for its fitness tracking devices took a deeper look at measures such as sleep time and bedtime variability of its users to understand the impact on the resting heart rates.
What it found
Fitbit said that since a majority of the Singapore population were stuck indoors in the last few months, data showed that the physical activity of its Singaporean users declined in terms of step counts — by 2,240 steps a day — as well as in active minutes.
Active minutes is a metric that factors in one’s body mass and is used to estimate exercise intensity, Fitbit said, noting that it fell by 3.66 minutes a day for Singaporean users.
The decreasing trend would typically lead to an increase in the resting heart rate,” it said.
“However, the opposite is observed here, which is positive news, but is also an indicator that there are more factors at play,” Fitbit said.
The company attributed the decrease in the users’ heart rate to two trends: A longer sleeping duration and improvements in bedtime variability.
1. Longer sleeping duration
Fitbit found that Singaporean users’ average sleeping duration had extended by 19.21 minutes each night.
This could be a good thing. Not getting enough sleep can have a negative impact on the resting heart rate and is a “risk factor for cardiovascular disease,” it said.
2. Improvements in bedtime variability
Fitbit found that the Singaporean users have been going to bed at a more consistent time.
“During normal times, people — particularly young people — tend to go to bed later on the weekends… which can impact their heart health,” it said.
“Overall, the findings on the resting heart rate of Singaporeans were very encouraging and is an indication that health and wellness remains a priority even while people have remained largely indoors.”
What Singaporeans say
Some people approached by TODAY said that they have been sleeping more while others have bumped up their exercise regime.
National University of Singapore student Violet Tan said that she has been sleeping an extra hour or two each day and exercising more because she has “nothing to do.”
“Before the circuit breaker, I used to exercise at most once a week because of classes and the travelling time to school,” the 21-year-old said. “But now, I’ve been exercising at least twice a week.”
Karen Tay, a 43-year-old laboratory technician, said that her sleeping schedule has largely remained the same since she started working from home, but noted that she feels less stressed, less tired and feels healthier.
However, Tay said that she has been exercising less as well.
“I usually exercise outside, but I can’t do that at home as often or as intensely (as before). I now do yoga at home as the (yoga studio that I attend) live streams classes every day.”
For Jacinta Tan, 60, her sleeping pattern has not changed much.
“I'm more conscious of making time for exercise now, mainly walking around for 3km,” the homemaker said. “My lifestyle has become less sedentary.” — TODAY
