Fitness Tracking Devices may Not Offer Health Benefits

Fitness tracking devices have become increasingly popular in recent years. When worn, these otherwise small devices track a person's health and fitness, such as how many steps they've taken, how long they've slept, how many calories they've burned and more. Conventional wisdom may lead you to believe that wearing a fitness tracker would set you on the right path for better health. But there's new evidence suggesting that fitness trackers do not translate into better health.

For the study, researchers in Singapore recruited 800 middle-aged men and women, separating them into four groups. One group was given a fitness tracker; another group was not given a fitness tracker; and participants in the third and fourth groups were given $11 for every week in which they clocked 50,000 or 70,000 steps.

So, what did researchers find? After the six-month study ended, researchers discovered that participants who were given the fitness trackers experienced a slight boost in their overall physical activity. After a year, however, 90% of these participants had abandoned their devices. This led researchers to conclude that fitness tracking devices are not an effective means of improving a person's physical fitness or overall health.

"These are basically measuring devices,” said Eric Finkelstein, one of the study's lead researchers. “Knowing how active you are doesn’t translate into getting people to do more and the novelty of having that information wears off pretty quickly.”

Of course, there are other ways to improve your health and well-being, such as dieting and exercising. Most people fall short of consuming the recommended 3-6 daily servings of fruit and vegetables, which often leads to malnutrition. By focusing your diet around lean meats and produce, however, you'll supplement your body with the vitamins and nutrients it needs to sustain proper health and development.

Exercise should also be part of your regular day-to-day routine, regardless of whether or not you own a fitness tracking device. Whether it's lifting weights or going for a jog around the neighborhood, make sure you exercise each and every day.

This study was published in the journal Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Photo credit: ZM Yi