Self-tracking, physical activity and Indigenous Australian women: What’s the fit?

Drawing on a strengths-based empowerment approach and the Indigenous tradition of ‘yarning’, this research explores how digital health technologies contribute to Indigenous women’s levels of physical activity (PA). While people have long regulated their bodies, the use of digital technologies to self-track one’s bodily states, processes and activities is expanding. Thus the research contributes to a little understood area of sport and diversity practices. Participants were eight Indigenous Australian women from the Tranby Indigenous College in Sydney, from July to October 2018. Each participant decided how best to achieve her goals with the assistance of the health tracker. They diarised their activity types, amounts, experiences and thoughts. Key findings include intersections between the use of digital health trackers and Indigenous women’s enhanced health literacy, increased motivation for activity and lifestyle choices. Discussions around the quantitative self, governance by micro-nudge and health trackers increasing power and agency arose from the data.