The Apple Watch will soon track fitness for wheelchair users

NEW YORK (AP) — Fitness trackers routinely measure physical activity such as running and cycling and encourage people to stand up and walk around throughout the day.

The efforts could give Apple's smartwatch an image boost over stand-alone fitness trackers such as Fitbit, though the target market isn't likely large enough to significantly lift sales.

Apple partnered with two groups that promote physical fitness in disability populations, the Lakeshore Foundation of Birmingham, Alabama, and the Challenged Athletes Foundation of San Diego.

Jeff Underwood, Lakeshore's president and CEO, said wheelchair users tend to be more sedentary than the general population because they face more barriers to physical activity.

GPS wristwatches can measure distance and speed fairly accurately, but calorie measurements assume moving the entire body, said Dawna Callahan, a four-time wheelchair finisher in the Boston Marathon and director of programs at Challenged Athletes.