Weight Loss Tip #163 – Don’t bother investing in a wearable fitness tracker. Here’s why!

Researchers have found that wearable fitness technology actually doesn't help with weight loss.

By: Anuradha Varanasi | | Updated: November 2, 2016 11:21 am

Are you thinking of buying a fitness tracker with the hope of losing weight and staying motivated? Think again. These fitness tracking devices might not be as effective as the advertisements claim they are. American researchers from the University of Pittsburg revealed that using a fitness tracker won’t help in losing weight contrary to popular belief [1]. This is how much wearable fitness trackers cost in India.

The study which was published in September 2016, in the Journal of the American Medical Association was conducted over a span of two years and included 470 overweight adults. The participants were between the ages of 18-35 years old. These adults were not only physically active, but also on a low-fat diet. Other than that, the researchers made them go for group counselling sessions and met them at least once a week.

Six months later, the 470 adults were divided into two groups where half of the participants were given fitness trackers. The other half were told to self-monitor their exercising sessions and then log into a website to upload their activities. The participants continued doing this for around 18 months and were told to meet the researchers at least once a month.

Interestingly, at the end of two years, the researchers found that the group of participants who did not use any kind of fitness tracker lost 13 pounds while the other group lost an average of only 7.7 pounds [1]. How could this be possible? It was observed that those who used a wearable fitness tracker felt that they could eat more after they found out how much they exercised throughout the day.

So does this mean you should stop using a fitness tracker if you already have one? Absolutely not. Here’s how to find out if your fitness tracker is accurate. Lead researcher John Jakicic concluded in his study that if one doesn’t own a fitness tracker and is thinking of buying one, it is best not to have high expectations and think that merely wearing one will make you more active.

Reference:

[1] Jakicic JM, Davis KK, Rogers RJ, King WC, Marcus MD, Helsel D, Rickman AD, Wahed AS, Belle SH. Effect of Wearable Technology Combined With a Lifestyle Intervention on Long-term Weight LossThe IDEA Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2016;316(11):1161-1171. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.12858

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Published : October 25, 2016 4:30 pm | Updated:November 2, 2016 11:21 am

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