Over €500 million spent in Ireland on online fitness and wellbeing

ADULTS in Ireland are spending more than €500m per year on online fitness and wellbeing.

According to research by Citywest highspeed broadband provider Pure Telecom, people living in Dublin spend an average of €182.40 on online fitness and wellbeing per year, versus €143 nationally. The survey of 1,004 adults in Ireland, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Pure Telecom, also shows that 50 per cent of adults have used an online gaming platform to support their fitness regimes and that 67 per cent are using mindfulness and mental health apps.

Findings from the inaugural Connected Lives survey, found that adults are turning to mobile apps to support their physical and mental health, while online gaming platforms are also playing a role in supporting the nation’s fitness.

Pure Telecom’s research found that 71 per cent of adults have used an online fitness tracking app in the last 12 months and the same proportion have used a nutrition or food-tracking app.

While many apps can use personal data to provide tailored recommendations and information relating to food and fitness, less than half of adults said that they are comfortable sharing their personal health and fitness data with such apps.

Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom, said: “The digital world is transforming the way we do everything, including how we look after our minds and bodies. People are drawing inspiration and advice from a truly global fitness community, which is available at their fingertips.

“As the number and variety of wearable devices being produced by tech companies increases, so too will our reliance on the internet to achieve our fitness and wellbeing goals. As such, we can expect the spending on online fitness resources to continue to rise as people seek that ease and flexibility that comes with doing things online.”