Millions of people walk around wearing fitness monitors, but new research suggests they may do nothing to keep us fit.
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After six months, 233 participants randomly received access to a website to monitor their diet and physical activity and 237 were given a wearable device and used its accompanying web interface to monitor diet and physical activity.
Over two years, the study found that the latter group actually did worse, losing 3.5kg compared to 5.9kg lost by those not using devices.
One study, also conducted by Jakicic, found that fitness trackers could replace counseling in a weight-loss program.
At the end of the study, the group who took part in counselling sessions had lost almost twice as much weight as those wearing fitness trackers.
“Among young adults with a BMI between 25 and less than 40, the addition of a wearable technology device to a standard behavioral intervention resulted in less weight loss over 24 months”, researchers writing for the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded.
Dr David Ellis, a psychologist at Lancaster University, told the BBC: ‘Fitness trackers are more likely to be bought by people who already lead a healthy lifestyle and want to monitor their progress.
“For the average person who has low motivation or a chronic condition like obesity, just giving someone a device probably isn’t enough”, Patel said.
A note of caution though – the study was carried out not using modern wristband wearables, but ones worn on the upper arm.
It’s possible that people thought the activity the devices measured was enough to lose weight. So it’s hard to say if they are useful for everybody. The study in JAMA, perhaps the most comprehensive to date on the subject, followed almost 500 overweight people ages 18 to 35 over 24 months. For the last 18 months, half the group got a fitness tracker and half went tech-free.
But a new study out today says they don’t work for dieting.
Both groups had improved their body composition, fitness, physical activity and diet, according to the report in JAMA. But the people with the fitness trackers lost less weight.
A handful of short-term studies have looked at fitness trackers, with mixed results.
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Jakicic theorized that the people who relied on these devices developed a false sense of security that whatever workout they did in a day was enough and that they could relax their diet restrictions.
