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Indians Outsmart Fitness Apps: Festivals, Ghee Okayed!
25 Apr
Summary
- Young Indians adjusted fitness app targets for cultural needs.
- Apps fail to understand Indian food, festivals, and seasons.
- Experts advise using app data as a guide, not a dictator.
A recent study from IIIT Hyderabad, presented at CHI 2026, found that young Indians are actively negotiating with fitness applications. Rather than adhering strictly to app-generated targets, users modify them to accommodate cultural practices, such as consuming extra sweets during festivals and family meals, or adjusting workouts due to humid weather.
Researchers noted that these adjustments are rational responses to tools built without considering diverse cultural contexts. Many participants reported going offline to manually track their fitness, as global apps often fail to interpret unique food combinations like dal and roti, the variable use of ghee, late family dinners, or season-specific dietary habits.
Dr. Sudhir Kumar, a consultant neurologist, echoed these sentiments, stating that strict, app-driven diets are rarely effective long-term for Indian users. He highlighted the diversity of Indian meals and the significant influence of social eating, festivals, travel, and family habits on dietary patterns.
Experts advise users to view fitness app data as a guiding tool rather than an absolute authority. They recommend focusing on weekly trends and foundational health metrics like daily steps, protein intake, and sleep quality, in conjunction with personal body signals such as energy levels, hunger, and recovery.
