RFK Jr wants every American wearing a health tracker by 2029

Garmin and Fitbit are usually the ones pushing wearables. But now, it looks like Washington wants in. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has just laid out a plan to get every American wearing one in the next four years.

A public health campaign with wrist-based goals

This isn’t a quirky side note. Kennedy revealed the initiative during a congressional budget hearing for the HHS. In his words, this will be one of the department’s biggest advertising pushes yet.

The aim is simple. Get people wearing something on their wrist that tracks their health. The message is tied into the broader “Make America Healthy Again” branding that he’s been using online.

That part’s easy to roll your eyes at. But when you look past the slogan, the actual message is a bit more grounded. Kennedy isn’t just talking about fitness bands for step counts. He’s pitching wearables as tools for personal responsibility. The idea is that people who see real-time feedback on their heart rate, sleep and movement might start making better choices. Not because a government app tells them to, but because they’re seeing it happen on their own wrists.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

He also sees it as a long-term thing. His goal is to have every American using a health-tracking wearable by 2029. Whether that’s a smartwatch, a ring, a glucose monitor patch, or something else doesn’t seem to matter much. As long as it can feed you health insights and make you think twice about skipping that walk or ordering takeout again.

The benefits are real, even if the delivery feels weird

The science is there. Wearables are already helping people with chronic conditions manage their lives more independently. Diabetics using CGMs don’t need to wait for quarterly checkups to know if their blood sugar is trending the wrong way. People with heart issues are spotting irregular rhythms earlier. Even something like sleep tracking has nudged users into adjusting habits that were wrecking their recovery.

There has never really been a US federal health push centred around consumer tech. The closest parallel might be fitness in schools or those old food pyramid posters. This is different. It puts tech front and center. And it assumes people trust it enough to wear it 24/7.

There’s always a tension when the government starts talking about your data, even if it stays on your wrist. That’s going to be one of the friction points. Another is access. Not everyone can afford a decent wearable. And not all fitness trackers and smartwatches are equal when it comes to accuracy or usefulness.

For years, wearables have been marketed as lifestyle accessories. Now they’re creeping into policy talk. If this actually turns into a mainstream campaign, it’ll be the first time most Americans hear the phrase “heart rate variability” from a government ad.

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