Millions of people around the world believe that fitness trackers, pedometers and smartwatches motivate them to exercise more and lose weight, according to a new study by Australian researchers. The research results were published in Lancet Digital Health.
Wearable activity trackers encourage us to walk up to 40 minutes more each day (roughly 1,800 more steps), resulting in an average weight loss of 1kg over five months. Researchers from the University of South Australia reviewed almost 400 studies involving 164,000 people worldwide using wearable activity trackers (WATs) to monitor their physical activity.
Their findings underscore the value of low-cost interventions to address a growing epidemic of health conditions partially caused by lack of exercise, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancers and mental illness. UniSA lead researcher PhD candidate Ty Ferguson says that despite the popularity of WATs, there is widespread skepticism about their effectiveness, accuracy and whether they fuel obsessive behavior and eating disorders, but the evidence is overwhelmingly positive. .
“The overall results of the studies we reviewed show that wearable activity trackers are effective in all age groups and over long periods of time,” says Ferguson. “They encourage people to exercise regularly, make it part of their routine and set weight loss goals.” Weight loss of 1 kg may not seem like much, but researchers say that from a public health perspective it is significant.
“Given that these were not weight loss studies, but lifestyle physical activity studies, so we weren’t expecting dramatic weight loss,” says UniSA Professor Carol Maher, co-author of the review. “The average person gains about 0.5kg a year in weight, so losing 1kg over five months is significant, especially when you consider that two-thirds of Australians are overweight or obese.”
Between 2014 and 2020, the number of wearable activity trackers shipped worldwide increased by nearly 1500 percent, resulting in global spending of $2.8 billion in 2020. In addition to the ‘additional physical activity and weight loss attributed to WATs, there is some evidence that Fitness trackers also help lower blood pressure and cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes and other health problems.
“The other reported benefit is that WATs improved depression and anxiety through increased physical activity,” says Ferguson. (ANI)
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