Managing Holiday Weight Gain with a Startup's Fitness App

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Although this year's Lunar New Year holiday was relatively short, concerns about increased body fat from rich foods are not any less. Due to holiday stress, some people fail to reduce their food intake even after the holiday, resulting in further weight gain. If you feel like you've gained a lot of weight from the abundant food during the Lunar New Year holiday, how about managing your expanded belly fat with various application (app) services introduced by startup companies?

According to the startup industry on the 26th, the use of health and fitness apps has been rapidly increasing recently in South Korea. The '2020 Mobile Status Report,' published by App Annie, a mobile data and analytics platform that analyzed the global mobile app ecosystem and trends last year, included that the health and fitness category showed the most remarkable growth rate in Korea. Korean users showed more than 570% higher engagement in this field compared to 2017. This is analyzed to be driven by growth in apps like 'Cashwalk,' a pedometer-type reward app whose usage time increased by 175% compared to the previous year.

In particular, the average daily mobile usage time of Korean consumers last year was 3 hours and 40 minutes, a 15% increase from 2017, indicating the acceleration of mobile becoming a part of daily life. Accordingly, services that allow people to exercise and manage their weight through mobile devices in daily life are increasing.

For example, the startup Whitecube offers a self-development investment app called 'Challengers' that helps users achieve their desired goals. When setting a goal for dieting, users can lose weight without giving up midway and receive rewards. Several projects are registered on this app, and participants can join projects by betting a small amount of money to achieve their goals. During the challenge period, users compete with other participants, verify their progress daily through the app’s camera at a set time, and receive their entry fee back according to the final achievement rate. If the achievement rate is 85% or higher, the full entry fee is refunded, and if 100% is completed, additional rewards are provided.

There is also the startup Dano, which provides a total diet solution for women. The company offers services such as the 'Dano App,' which provides diet information, and 'MyDano,' an online personal training service created by female experts. The company explains that it provides diet solutions based on a new philosophy called 'habit shaping.'