Fitness trackers may not, in fact, help you lose weight
The question
Wearable fitness trackers — devices that track your every step — aim to get people up and moving. Does that lead to sustained weight loss?
Fitness trackers may not, in fact, help you lose weight
This study
The study involved 471 people, 18 to 35 years old, who were overweight or obese and participating in a weight-loss program with diet, exercise and counseling components. Six months into the program, they were randomly assigned either to use a website to monitor their diet and physical activity each day or to wear a fitness tracker that had a Web-based link to track activity and provide feedback for both exercise and diet. At this point, average weight loss was essentially the same in both groups.
After 18 months of periodic measurements, improvements in diet, physical activity and body composition were comparable for the two groups. However, those who wore the fitness trackers lost less weight, on average, than the others. In the 24-month period, people wearing the trackers lost, on average, 7.7 pounds, while those who did not wear the devices dropped an average of 13 pounds. Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fitness-trackers-may-not-in-fact-help-you-lose-weight/2016/09/23/d1094594-80e7-11e6-b002-307601806392_story.html
After 18 months of periodic measurements, improvements in diet, physical activity and body composition were comparable for the two groups. However, those who wore the fitness trackers lost less weight, on average, than the others. In the 24-month period, people wearing the trackers lost, on average, 7.7 pounds, while those who did not wear the devices dropped an average of 13 pounds. Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fitness-trackers-may-not-in-fact-help-you-lose-weight/2016/09/23/d1094594-80e7-11e6-b002-307601806392_story.html
