Fitness trackers might not help you lose weight, study finds
[Photo: Getty]
If you’re a die-hard fitness tracker fan, we’re afraid we have some bad news: They might not be helping you to lose weight at all.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that instead of motivating us to do more exercise every day, fitness trackers may give us a false sense of security and de-motivate us.
It found that - as is often the case with these things - there’s no shortcut to getting healthy and fit, and it’s actually more effective to follow a diet and exercise plan instead.
Scientists suspected that people become overly dependent on the gadgets instead of relying on their own willpower.
[Photo: Pexels]
The researchers tracked 470 overweight or obese people aged 18 to 35 for 24 months. They were put on a low-calorie diet and exercise plan, as well as being invited to group sessions.
Half of this group was given a Fit Core armband after six months, which tracked their activity and allowed them to log their diet, while the other half were asked to monitor their exercise and diet themselves.
And the results showed that patients given the fitness trackers lost less weight than those who went it alone - while the group using the Fit Core gadgets lost an average of 7.7lb over two years, the other group lost an average of 13lb.
This isn’t to say that the gadgets are useless, however - both groups lost weight, after all.
Fitbit had this to say about the study: “The University of Pittsburgh study published in the JAMA did not use Fitbit devices or the Fitbit app, so we cannot speak for their specific findings.
“As the leader in the wearables category, we are confident in the positive results users have seen from the Fitbit platform, including our wearable devices, Aria wifi smart scale, and Fitbit app.”
What do you think about these findings? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.
