Smartphone Use

Implications for Health and Physical Fitness Promotion

Abstract

The development of smartphone has redefined most activities of man, especially physical activity. This paper reviews the dual-role smartphone use plays on the physical fitness and activities of people. A smartphone is a handheld device that combines mobile phone and computing functions into a single unit. The paper highlights the impact of smartphone use on physical fitness of the user and maintains that mobile addiction and problematic smartphone use is demonstrated to have a detrimental impact on the physical health and fitness of individual users. Smartphone use is shown to reduce the amount of physical activities people engage in; a positive relationship between smartphone use and sedentary behaviour is identified and smartphone use is negatively correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness and percentage body fat. On the positive end, this paper reviews a potential for achieving and enhancing physical fitness through smartphone use. Some smartphone activities, such as listening to music while exercising on a treadmill, can help improve fitness. Smartphone applications (Apps) that include step-counts increase physical activities in young and middle-aged people and have the potential to inspire improvements in sedentary time and physical activity. Based on the reviews, it is clear that smartphones have the capability to build or break an individual’s physical fitness levels by either increasing the amount of physical activities or encouraging sedentary behaviour. As a result, there is a need to repurpose smartphones for fitness by designing and/or acquiring smartphone applications that encourage physical activity, provide psychological incentives and rewards for physical activity, assist people in setting and achieving fitness goals, and easily sharing them with friends. This include using smartphones to play songs while walking out, as well as using fitness apps on smartphones.