Fitness trackers aren’t making us fat – but they’re not infallible either
The headlines were dismissive. Fitness trackers “can make you fatter”, scoffed one. They have “no weight-loss benefit” warned another. It was enough to make you rip off your Fibit, Garmin or Jawbone device and chuck it in your bedside drawer – if you hadn’t already.
Yet the study they were referring to – by the University of Pittsburgh, published in the journal of the American Medical Association, which followed 471 young adults trying to lose weight – was nowhere near as damning as the stories claimed (100 mandatory press-ups for those headline writers). After six months of receiving weight-loss advice, half the group were given a fitness tracker, half were not. All were placed on a low-calorie diet and prescribed more physical activity. Both groups lost weight, so no one got fatter. But there was a twist: those using the fitness tracker lost less than those who didn’t, an average of 3.5kg versus 5.9kg over two years.
The researchers themselves admit to being baffled, with one theory being that constant awareness of activity actually led people to “treat” themselves more often; or conversely, that watching how few steps they took led to despondency. As they themselves admitted: “We stepped back and said wait a minute, maybe these devices aren’t as effective for everyone.”
Well, no surprises there. Aside from the fact that the study was small and limited in scope, it is worth pointing out that a fitness tracker is a tool, and as with all tools it has to be used correctly. Much as having a shiny gym membership card in your wallet doesn’t magically make you fitter, a tracker can only track; you have to do the work yourself. At least until they invent the one that takes your cardiovascular system out for a spin without you.
Trackers aren’t infallible and neither are their users. Sometimes they will give inaccurate step counts or heart-rate data; and sometimes you forget to charge them, or enter the wrong info in the accompanying app. If you don’t ’fess up to that extra helping of pudding, then how will that bossy little device know it must chide you into an evening walk?
Many, if not most, trackers are bought with virtuous intent, only to end up lurking in the bottom of a drawer six months later. And lurk they do: that chivvying and chiding into more activity can sometimes take on a slightly sinister tone. In my more paranoid moments I’ve wondered if the slick-looking device on my wrist has an agenda of its own. Or at least if it’s trying to break me. Why does it always cut out when I go for a run? I have found myself jogging up and down the stairs on run-tired legs at 9.30pm to hit my step count, just to placate it. Sometimes I find myself talking to it. “You’ve been unusually slow off the mark today,” it tuts. “But I’m running a marathon on Sunday, I need to rest!” I plead. Our relationship is strained: I fear we need therapy.
Purely anecdotally, many of the people I know who are most devoted to their trackables are those who are very active anyway. Perhaps us smug runner-types just need the constant validation – though I do also find it useful to remind me to get up and away from the other bit of tyrannical technology in my life – the computer screen. At any rate, one thing I am sure of is that of all the aspects of modern life that might be making us fat, fitness trackers are not high on the suspect list.
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