Lately, a big market for fitness trackers has emerged. Different wearables and apps can measure a number of fitness-related parameters, including heart rate, GPS tracking, steps, distance covered, pace, calories burned or even sleep quality. In many cases, you can also log your caloric intake to get an even better profile of your performance. But the psychological aspect of fitness trackers is just as important as the technology behind them because they do more than inform: they reinforce, motivate and reward.
The Advertised Effects
Fitness trackers and apps are advertised as beneficial for your health and lifestyle. They provide an objective measure of your activity so you can’t lie to yourself. Wearable trackers should get you to be more active, motivate you during exercise and provide information about your daily routine or workout without requiring manual calculations or notes. Furthermore, they should help you to reach your fitness goals.
These devices and apps are becoming increasingly popular in personal healthcare and promise easy lifestyle changes. These promising words fall on fertile soil. Most adults are aware of (or at least suspect) not meeting their recommended daily activity guidelines. However, there are no objective research results to bolster up their promise of improving physical activity levels.
Do They Work?
Fitness trackers are great for those who really have no idea how many calories they burn during an activity and can help those in need of a motivational tool to keep them going. However, one study found that using a pedometer did not significantly increase step count among overweight and obese adults [1]. Another study with overweight people showed that after 18 months, those who had used a device that tracked steps and calorie expenditure lost on average five pounds less than people without self-tracking [2]. Thus, devices that monitor and provide feedback on physical activity may not offer an advantage over standard behavioral weight-loss approaches after all.
A FITNESS TRACKER INITIALLY
INCREASES MOTIVATION
From personal observations and a (non-representative) survey among colleagues, it became apparent that a fitness tracker motivated us to be more active initially . For nearly all it was fun to log and track our own health data and progress with colorful charts and badges for achievements. However, the excitement – as with all new toys – had died away at some point and most of us were back to our previous activity levels after a while. Until now, not a single long-term study has analyzed the effect of constantly wearing a fitness tracker on the average consumer.
 |
| The Author's Personal Records |
What Else Do They Do?
However, many users also observed that they developed a guilty conscience if they had not moved enough. In some cases this led to abandoning the device altogether. Thus, wearing the device alone is not enough to lead a healthier life. Many devices and apps offer an online platform where users can compare themselves with others or even challenge a friend. This additionally increases the motivation, but also the pressure to perform and reach your goals as the wearer is held accountable by the device, app and group members. The motivation to be at the top of a ranking can also be amplified by the ability to broadcast your exercise statistics via social media.
USING A FITNESS TRACKER CAN
WORSEN EATING DISORDERS
This can, for obvious reasons, also have negative consequences for some people. One study examined the relationship between use of calorie counting and fitness tracking devices with eating disorder-related behaviour in college students [3]. Participants using calorie and fitness trackers manifested higher levels of eating concern and dietary restraint. Interestingly, fitness tracking, but not calorie counting, emerged as a unique indicator of eating disorder symptomatology. These findings suggest that for some individuals, these devices do more harm than good.
Should I Track?
It is nice to know your daily step count, heart rate, caloric intake, and the like, but wouldn’t you also have an approximate idea about these parameters if you simply reflected on your daily routine? Depending on how important it is for you to know the exact parameters, it makes sense to wear such a device... or not. Many devices have a built-in alarm that goes off if you have not move for a certain time. This might come in handy, but can also be annoying if you are at work and just can’t go for a walk right now. In the end, it always depends on the individual who wears the device.
If you are not prone to being overly critical about your weight, tracking your workouts and food intake can be motivating. But tracking everything might become obsessive for some, as the numerical focus of the trackers is akin to the obsessive fixation characteristic for eating disorders and exercise addiction.
It's true that these devices make you be more aware of your health. However, this can also be achieved without fitness trackers but instead with good education about lifestyle and health.
[1] Takahashi et al, Clin Interv Aging. 2016
[2] Jakicic et al, JAMA. 2016
[3] Simpson et al, Eat Behav. 2017
by Claudia Willmes, PhD Alumni AG Eickholt/Schmitz
this article originally appeared June 2017 in CNS Volume 10, Issue 2, Digital Health and Big Data
No comments:
Post a Comment