Wearable Data Drives Urban Transformation: Withings Files IPO Prospectus Highlighting Public Health Impact

As living standards continue to improve, obesity has become a widespread challenge. Overweight and obesity rates are steadily rising among adolescents, adults, and the elderly alike. The medical costs and productivity losses associated with obesity impose a significant burden on the nation, while also causing substantial distress to individuals affected by the condition.

How to Motivate Individuals with Obesity to Exercise, Achieve Natural Weight Loss, and Establish Healthy Lifestyle Habits? In recent years, wearable devices, which have gradually gained popularity, have emerged as a significant force in healthcare. Wearable devices are not merely hardware; they also leverage software support and data interaction to enable a wide range of functions. Wearable health devices can monitor various physiological indicators, including blood glucose, blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, body temperature, and respiratory rate. Furthermore, they can reflect the status of public health management through big data analytics.

Recently, the United States ranked major cities by obesity index using data collected from wearable device users. Oklahoma City was identified as the most obese city in the U.S. Mick Cornett, the mayor of Oklahoma City, expressed dismay over this ranking at the 2013 TEDMED conference. However, it was precisely this ranking that spurred him to tackle the issue of obesity among residents, sparking a citywide effort to help its citizens collectively lose one million pounds. The local government even decided to restructure the city’s infrastructure and public transportation system to encourage people to walk more rather than drive in the urban core.

The Database of Wearable Devices Has a Significant Impact on Public Health

Withings is a company dedicated to providing smart devices that help consumers make informed health choices. The CEO of Withings observed that the big data reflected by wearable devices is inextricably linked to public health. He realized that if Withings began analyzing and aggregating anonymized data from all customers using its devices (such as scales, blood pressure monitors, activity trackers, and sleep sensors), it could generate a new type of public health knowledge. Withings could also feed this new data back to the users who generated it, and even create personalized insights based on this large database. This is the underlying idea behind the establishment of the Withings Health Institute.

Withings Health Institute has established an observatory for user data, which collects real-time data from users’ wearable devices and provides them with free access to the resulting big data insights.

The Withings Health Institute has released the first-ever ranking of cities with the highest rates of overweight individuals.



In the “States Can’t Weight” campaign, Withings set out to identify and explain the key factors driving obesity by combining its own data with public topics such as average income, the percentage of people who walk to work, and the availability of sports facilities.

In France, Withings seized the opportunity to release a similar analysis ahead of local elections, sparking public debate on obesity. On a webpage dedicated to overweight cities in France, Withings enabled voters to send messages about urban health issues to local politicians via Twitter. The results proved this approach truly effective! Media outlets extensively covered Argenteuil, a suburban city north of Paris, being identified as the most obese city in France. The newly elected government in Argenteuil is preparing to tackle the obesity crisis. To Withings’ surprise, the municipal government also launched a comprehensive plan to combat obesity, including changes to school meal menus for children. These developments made Withings realize that it may bear significant responsibility—not only to its users but also to the general public.

Withings Obtains Nationwide Blood Pressure Data Through Wearable Devices

According to data from the World Health Organization, hypertension is a leading cause of death worldwide. Approximately 51% and 45% of deaths are associated with stroke and ischemic heart disease, respectively, both of which are fundamentally attributable to hypertension.

The French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) added that hypertension is the most common factor contributing to the development of cardiovascular diseases, affecting approximately 20% of the global adult population. Despite the prevalence of hypertension, most people remain unaware of the risks it poses, and more importantly, fail to recognize its presence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that approximately one in five adults in the United States has hypertension without being aware of it.

In this context, to raise genuine awareness of hypertension and enhance knowledge about this health issue, Withings introduced a wearable device—the Withings Blood Pressure Monitor—that can monitor blood pressure levels in real time for people in the United States.

In April 2015, Withings published nationwide U.S. weight measurements and physical activity levels on its Health Monitor website. In May, the Withings Health Observatory obtained real-time data on Americans’ blood pressure levels through Withings blood pressure monitors.



Data show that 24% of Americans have elevated blood pressure levels (systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg). This proportion increases with age: only 11% of individuals aged 20–29 years have elevated blood pressure, whereas the rate rises to 28% among those aged over 60 years. The figure below presents the latest data.

A Higher Proportion of American Men Than Women Have Elevated Blood Pressure: 26% of American men have elevated blood pressure levels, compared to only 19% of women. Nevertheless, this disparity diminishes with age. Among individuals aged 30–39, men are 56% more likely than women of the same age to exhibit symptoms of elevated blood pressure. At ages 40–49, this gap narrows to 49%. For those aged 50–59, the difference is only 33%, and among those aged 60 and older, the gap shrinks to just 13%.

Smart Data Drives the Improvement of Public Health

Withings’ primary mission is to provide data to its users. The company has established a real-time observatory that offers a comprehensive view derived from aggregated data of all Withings device users (including activity/sleep trackers, blood pressure monitors, etc.), and it is freely accessible to the public. Data are displayed in real time as they are collected.



Data from the National Observatory shows that people are most active in large cities. This is why California, Washington, and New York are the most active states: in these three states, only 30% of people walk fewer than 4,000 steps per day, whereas in Mississippi, the figure is nearly 50%. In another study on workplace health, Withings asked users how they commuted to work. The results showed that those who used public transportation walked 1,000 more steps per day than those who drove to work. This leads us to a counterintuitive conclusion: living in a large city with a dense transportation network is actually healthier because it encourages greater physical activity. Policymakers should keep this in mind when formulating urban planning strategies. In Paris, Withings partnered with the rail transport authority to launch a public health challenge and study aimed at verifying the actual impact of public transportation systems on people’s health.

The true value of big data lies in the free sharing and flow of data. When innovators have access to such data, they may uncover creative use cases within open datasets—some even beyond what Withings itself might have envisioned. This enables decision-makers to make data-driven decisions, fostering a virtuous cycle in the healthcare industry.

Others have also noted the benefits brought about by open data policies. In health data development projects, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have played pioneering roles in raising awareness about the openness of medical data. In a landmark report, researchers demonstrated how user-generated health data can positively impact healthcare and research.

Three Pieces of Advice for Companies Holding Large Databases:

1. Public data can help the public build trust
You might wonder why a company would agree to share its data for free when it could otherwise monetize that data. If you were a user-data sales company, such as Google or Facebook, you would certainly want to retain the data for yourself. However, the situation is entirely different for companies like Withings. Withings’ business is to provide users with the best devices and the best services. Evidence shows that opening up data to users and ensuring transparency in its use can build trust between users and the company. There is no better way to demonstrate that wearable devices are not a new “Big Brother” than by making data usage open and transparent. This is precisely what the Withings Health Observatory does.

2. Personalized insights can be derived from big data
When we release statistical data, users’ primary need is to transform this information into personalized insights that inform them of their standing relative to others. In a similar vein, Amazon recommends books based on the premise that users share similar preferences. We have learned to identify relevant personal information from big data. For instance, individuals who rarely weigh themselves can learn from big data analytics that this behavior is often associated with weight gain. This merely offers a glimpse into the future of predictive medicine, whose developmental trend involves converting intelligent data into real-time health risk assessments. At its core, smart devices enable services to adapt to user behavior.

3. Data can connect you with researchers developing innovative products and services
In short, one fact is undeniable: as the hype and promotional impact of wearable devices gradually wane, only those features that deliver tangible benefits to users will retain their loyalty. This is the essence of big data and precisely why it is so valuable when properly mined and utilized. We strive to identify what works and what does not, collaborating with researchers and academics to publish meaningful findings in scientific papers. Recently, at Obesity Week, the Withings Health Institute presented abstracts at a medical conference, demonstrating how smart devices can effectively promote weight loss and exert positive effects on blood pressure. Through engagement and knowledge exchange with physicians and researchers, Withings has gained new momentum and launched new services and products. The Withings Health Institute has now become a toolkit that assists researchers in recruiting patients on a large scale.

In summary, medical wearable devices have broad development prospects. Innovations in wearable technology will inevitably usher in comprehensive intelligence across all sectors of the healthcare industry. Diagnostic and therapeutic technologies based on big data platforms for healthcare will elevate personalized medicine to a new level.

Translation | Chen Kun

Editor: Huang Jia