• Posted March 31, 2025

Smartwatches Can Help People Control Diabetes Through Exercise

Wearing a smartwatch might do more than track steps (or your texts) -- it could be a powerful tool for helping people with type 2 diabetes stay active, a new study says.

Participants were more likely to start and maintain an exercise regimen if they had a smartwatch providing them feedback and encouragement, researchers reported March 27 in the journal BMJ Open.

Early results also indicate that they were achieving better control over their blood sugar levels and blood pressure, researchers report.

“The results of this study can contribute to change the lives of many people around the world,” said researcher Ceu Mateus, a professor of health economics at Lancaster University in the U.K.

“There are millions of people suffering from diabetes type 2 without access to non-pharmacological interventions with sustained results in the long term,” she added in a news release. “Our study shows that independently of the place where you live, your age, your ethnicity, your gender, or your income, there is an exercise program that suits you.”

For the study, researchers recruited 135 people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and assigned half to wear a smartwatch paired with a health app on their smartphone.

The app guided participants through a home-based physical activity program, using the watch to track their metrics.

The program gradually increased their exercise to a target of 150 minutes per week of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity. Participants also were supported by an online coaching service led by exercise specialists.

“The program offered a variety of workouts, including cardio and strength training, that could be done without the need for a gym,” lead researcher Katie Hesketh, an assistant professor in exercise prescription at the University of Birmingham, said in a news release. “Its goal is to make exercise a sustainable part of daily life for people with type 2 diabetes, ultimately improving their physical and mental health.”

Those who were given a smartwatch were 10 times more likely to start an exercise program than those who weren’t, results show, and three times more likely to still participate in that program a year later.

“We found that using biometrics from wearable technologies offered great promise for encouraging people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes to maintain a home-delivered, personalized exercise program with all the associated health benefits,” Hesketh concluded.

Based on these results, researchers plan to seek funding for a larger clinical trial that could see whether the smartwatch-based fitness program can actually help people with type 2 diabetes achieve control over their condition.

More information

The American Diabetes Association has more on weekly exercise targets.

SOURCE: Lancaster University, news release, March 27, 2025