Health Score FAQs
The Health Score is a scientifically calculated number from 1 to 1,000. The higher your Health Score, the healthier you are considered to be.
Your Health Score will fall into one of the five categories below:
- Can Improve (0-479)
- Fair (480-549)
- Good (550-609)
- Very good (610-679)
- Excellent (680-1000)
The more information you share over time, the more accurate your Health Score will be.
Is the Health Score accurate?
Yes, it is. To get a base line Health Score, you need to simply enter your age, gender, weight and height. The more health data you provide over time, the more accurate your Health Score will become, offering you a personalised health and wellbeing experience.
Why is the Health Score relevant?
The Health Score is a scientific way to measure your health in one easy to understand, single metric. You can then make small lifestyle changes to improve this over time. These positive lifestyle changes can have wide-ranging health and wellbeing benefits.
We decided to go for a Score and not an age-related measure (such as bio age, real age, etc.) for two very important reasons: we wanted an indicator where older people could compare themselves to younger people, and men could compare themselves to women. The Health Score therefore uses a mathematical process called equalisation for age and sex, so that the Score can be used as a universal measure of health ranking.
Why is the Health Score a valuable indicator to track over time?
When you track your Health Score over time, it offers a good directional indicator of how your health and wellbeing is evolving.
Is the Health Score a medical product?
No. The Health Score is an indicator of your health and wellbeing; however it is not a diagnostic tool and does not substitute the diagnosis of your medical professional.
The MyLife app is a lifestyle product that allows you to manage your health and wellbeing in an easy and engaging way.
What changes my Health Score?
Your Health Score is based on the information you provide to the Wheel of Life. There are plenty of ways that you can improve your Health Score, such as tracking your exercise and becoming more active, eating healthily when you can, and getting sufficient sleep.
The health benefits of physical activity are determined by sustained activity over time, not by a single workout. For this reason, MyLife uses an averaging procedure (called exponentially-weighted moving average) that looks back at your level of activity over the past 60 days. If a workout you do today uses less energy than your current average, your Health Score will decrease.
What does MET mean?
MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) is a measure to estimate the energy cost of physical activity, independent of weight, where 1 MET = 1 kcal/kg/h. It is also known as “normalised energy”. This measure was introduced by Stanford University in California and has been used globally for more than 30 years.
The MET values used on MyLife are based on the Compendium of Physical Activities that has been put together by Stanford University.
What is the scientific basis of the nutrition model?
The scientific basis for the nutrition engine is the Mediterranean Diet (MD). The principle of the MD is to use fresh, seasonal and minimally processed food, to adhere to a plant-based diet rather than an animal-based one, and to prepare dishes in a healthy way.
There is a large body of solid scientific evidence that recommends the health advantages of the MD.
Eating and drinking according to the MD is associated with a reduction in morbidity and mortality from major chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Furthermore, adherence to the MD results in an improvement of risk factors such as insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and blood sugar or impaired blood lipids.
The MD is not only healthy, but also tasty, varied and appealing, making it an ideal diet to adopt for a healthy lifestyle.