THE BALANCED LIFE: Health and Wellness trends

Statista, a global data collection firm, says the value of the world-wide consumer wellness industry surpassed $6.81 trillion in 2023. Predicting where that money will be spent in the next few years is obviously important to the industry. Which segments will grow, contract or remain stagnant, and how will technology and changing demographics affect wellness spending in the near future?

More important is how we, as consumers, will react to the new trends and offerings, and what balance we’ll strike between where the wellness industry might want to take us and where we want to go.

For many reasons, we as consumers are increasingly attempting to take more control of our own health. McKinsey & Company, another global data analysis firm, says 82 percent of American consumers, 73 percent of British and 87 percent of Chinese consumers rank personal wellness as a top or important priority.

We are becoming less interested in trends and fads, and are increasingly reluctant to adopt an “I’ll try it and see what happens” attitude. We want to know what the science says, and where’s the proof. This is especially true of Millennials and Gen Z’ers, but Boomers are catching on.

Our consciousness of “healthwashing”, when companies deceptively use labeling and terms to make products appear healthier than they really are, is growing quickly. Fortunately so is our understanding, and wariness, of social media influencers and their promotional techniques. Between 2021 and 2023 the share of consumers who said influencers and celebrities were important sources of new information rose from 20 percent to almost 60 percent, meaning the wellness industry will continue to associate itself with the most authentic-appearing influencers.

Wearable digital devices and bio-monitoring have brought on a new era. Testing and monitoring that may have required hospitalization and/or expensive and bulky equipment can now be done by a watch or pocket-sized tracking device. New smart watches and other devices have allowed the range of health metrics like heart rate and rhythm, cholesterol levels, sleep patterns, stress, etc. to be monitored, but the predictive nature of artificial intelligence being employed in new modalities will offer the real gains, moving from passive reporting to proactive signaling. Real-time screening from devices we wear during physical activity can now warn us of impending health situations before they create serious consequences.

Combining this with telehealth, the ability to consult via phone or video with a health professional, will become increasingly comprehensive and seamless, providing more personalized care.

Smart fitness apps are allowing more and more people to work out at home and monitor their health while doing so. When connected to smart equipment such as bike trainers or treadmills, the apps provide social interaction too. It must be noted, however, that for every article promoting the benefits of these new apps, there is one reminding us that these apps and devices are data gatherers, allowing your most personal health information to be tracked and hacked.

The science of genome analysis and the increased availability of first-party data are allowing personalization of every aspect of healthcare and the wellness industry. Johnson & Johnson, the huge pharmaceutical and medical technologies company, says “‘Sequencing’ technology to identify every component that makes up a person's genome enables scientists to uncover gene variants that may predispose an individual to a certain disease or make them more or less likely to respond to a specific treatment.”

By adding our medical history and lifestyle information to genetic data, doctors, therapists and other healthcare professionals can tailor treatments and preventative measures to each individual, increasing effectiveness and minimizing adverse effects. Nutrition and supplements will become personalized. No longer will we have to guess whether we need more of which vitamins, minerals, proteins or antioxidants— the data will tell us.

A 2023 McKinsey & Company survey found that 20 percent of wellness and health consumers in the United Kingdom and the United States, and 30 percent in China, now search for personalized products and services that can use their own biometric data to recommend courses of action and medications.

Devices to monitor our sleep patterns proliferate—from Oura rings to data-collecting mattress covers— meaning finding ways to improve sleep quality will trend in the future. The jump from monitoring to improving is a leap that digital sleep technology hasn’t made yet. White noise machines and weighted blankets may help, pills and melatonin are quick and easy, but long bouts of insomnia may still call for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to get at the real reason you don’t sleep well.

Holistic approaches to health and wellness are gaining traction as Canadians learn more about the inter-related nature of mental, emotional and physical health, and the importance of psychological wellbeing. Foods that provide benefits beyond basic nutrition, such as boosting our immune systems or reducing chronic diseases, are becoming more popular, as are yoga, meditation and acupuncture, which impact our mental health.

Alcohol consumption will decrease as its effect on wellness is better understood. Twenty-three percent of Canadian adults are now alcohol free, and a further 20 percent are considering a switch as more information becomes available on the potential health consequences to our livers, risk of heart disease and cancer.

Fortified foods and beverages will proliferate, but predictions about whether we’ll shift from natural products, theoretically clean and green, to those with more clinically proven ingredients are contradictory. Although improving scientific data may play a role, there is also a philosophical divide as more people consider ethical and sustainability questions increasingly important.

In Canada, the plant-based diet trend will continue to boom as we consider sustainability, healthy choices and animal welfare. In just two years, between 2020 and 2022, the number of Canadian vegetarians (including vegans and pescetarians) rose from 7.6 percent to 8.29 percent, well above the United States at 4.2 percent but below Sweden at 12 percent.

One thing that isn’t changing is the importance to us of doctors’ recommendations over other sources of health and wellness information. We need to trust our source, face-to-face, and believe they are credible and have our best interests at heart, rather than worry about the potential for scams and schemes the digital world provides when it comes to our most basic health and wellness interactions.

Have a health or wellness topic that you'd like to know more about? Let us know!