What we think of as a healthy lifestyle depends so much on where we live and the culture around us. In the UK, health often means joining a gym, eating more vegetables, or walking in green spaces. These ideas are shaped by public health messaging and what feels achievable in our daily lives. From what I've read about Japan, health often focuses on balance and moderation, with practices like forest bathing or eating small, nutrient-dense meals. In Mediterranean cultures, it can be more about fresh meals eaten with family and regular, natural movement rather than formal exercise.
These cultural norms are practical and rooted in what people see as realistic. If you live somewhere without access to green spaces or affordable healthy food, your view of health will look very different from someone in a well-connected urban area. People adapt to what is available, which is why a healthy lifestyle is so varied across regions.
The problem is that most health tech doesn't reflect this. Apps often push a narrow view of fitness that assumes the same things work for everyone, such as running, calorie counting, or step goals. I recently listened to a podcast that mentioned how Western fitness ideals dominate the design of these tools, leaving them feeling irrelevant to people in other cultures. Not everyone finds running appealing or wants to track every calorie. In some cases, these approaches can even be demotivating because they fail to align with how people naturally live.
Imagine if health tech started adapting to users' cultural habits and daily routines. In the UK, it could suggest walking routes through nearby parks or help plan healthier versions of familiar meals. For someone in the Mediterranean, it might focus on enhancing traditional diets with small tweaks, while also encouraging enjoyable, sustainable forms of activity. From what I've read, areas with strong cultural connections to food and movement often see better long-term health outcomes because they don't treat health as a separate task to be completed.
There is also a bigger question of whether tech should simply work within existing norms or try to influence them. Could an app challenge certain habits in a respectful way by showing better alternatives, or would that alienate users? I recently came across an example of a fitness app introducing running goals in places where walking is the preferred activity, and unsurprisingly, it didn't gain much traction. This shows how important it is to understand cultural context when designing these tools.
Ultimately, health tech has the potential to support people more effectively by meeting them where they are. It's not about telling people what to do but about connecting healthier habits to their existing lifestyles in ways that feel natural and achievable. By respecting cultural diversity and adapting to it, tech can become a powerful ally in improving health outcomes worldwide.