Trendy fitness trackers do not actually improve your health, a study suggests.
Scientists found that even when those using a Fitbit device were offered cash incentives to exercise more, they did not do enough activity to benefit their health.
Modern wearable health gadgets – made by technology firms such as Fitbit, Jawbone and Misfit – sell in their millions.
The devices, worn on the wrist, arm or belt, estimate how active someone is by tracking the number of steps they take.
Trendy fitness trackers do not actually improve your health, a study suggests
More sophisticated models also calculate calories burnt, heart rate and quality of sleep – and feed the data directly into a smartphone.
Companies claim that by monitoring activity with their devices – which cost between £30 and £150 – people will be encouraged to take more steps, burn more calories and become healthier as a result.
But the new study, published in the medical journal Lancet Diabetes Endocrinology, found that over the course of a year people who wore the devices demonstrated no health improvements.
Experts said people they may use the devices at first, after a while the ‘novelty wears off ‘, and people give up on the gadgets.
Study leader Professor Eric Finkelstein, of Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, said: ‘Over the course of the year-long study, volunteers who wore the activity trackers recorded no change in their step count but moderately increased their amount of aerobic activity by an average of 16 minutes per week.
‘However, we found no evidence that the device promoted weight loss or improved blood pressure or cardiorespiratory fitness, either with or without financial incentives.
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‘While there was some progress early on, once the incentives were stopped, volunteers did worse than if the incentives had never been offered, and most stopped wearing the trackers.’
The research team tracked 800 people aged 21 to 65, who were monitored for 12 months using a Fitbit Zip device, which clips onto a belt or waistband.
They were split into four groups – one group which simply used the Fitbit Zip, a second used the device and were offered 15 Singapore dollars (about £8.50) if they hit 50,000 steps a week, which doubled if they hit 70,000 steps.
A third group used the Fitbit and was offered the same cash, but had to give it to charity. And the fourth group was simply given some information about exercise, but no device to monitor their progress.
After six months all incentives were removed, but the participants could continue to use their trackers.
The researchers found that during the first six months of the study, only participants in the cash incentive group recorded increases in physical activity.
Scientists found that even when those using a Fitbit device were offered cash incentives to exercise more, they did not do enough activity to benefit their health (File photo)
But once the incentives were removed, 90 per cent of people stopped using the trackers, and on average they returned to the same levels of physical activity they recorded at the start of the trial.
Those in the Fitbit-only group – with no cash incentives – showed slightly improved levels of physical activity, recording an average of an additional 16 minutes of exercise per week than they did at the start of the trial.
However, the authors said that this increase was ‘probably not enough to generate noticeable improvements in any health outcomes’.
The authors wrote: ‘Wearable activity trackers are becoming increasingly popular. However, our results show that they are unlikely to be a panacea for rising rates of chronic disease.’
Co-author Professor Robert Sloan, of Kagoshima University in Japan, said people did not stick with the trackers – 40 per cent of participants stopped using the devices in the first six months and just 10 per cent were still wearing them at 12 months.
He said: ‘People use these devices for a while, but with time the novelty wears off—this is consistent with how people use trackers in real life.’
The findings come after a US trial published last month found that people who used FIT Core armbands lost less weight than who simply followed an exercise and diet plan.
The findings come after a US trial published last month found that people who used FIT Core armbands lost less weight than who simply followed an exercise and diet plan (File photo)
That study, led by the University of Pittsburgh, found that people who used the gadgets lost an average of 7.7lb over two years, compared to an average 13lb among those who did not.
Dr John Jakicic, who led the Pittsburgh study, said wearable gadgets give people a ‘false sense of security’ which means they put less effort into losing weight.
‘They are relying on the device, or the technology a little bit too much,’ he said.
The number of people using health and fitness wearables is predicted to rise to 100million in 2018, compared with 15million in 2013, while global revenues from fitness trackers are expected to increase from £1.5bn in 2014 to £4.1bn by 2019.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who uses a Fitbit himself, announced last month that such gadgets will soon be able to feed directly into NHS medical records, allowing GPs to see how much exercise individual patients are doing.
A spokesman for Fitbit said: ‘As the leader in connected health and fitness, we are confident in the positive results our millions of users have seen from using Fitbit products.
‘Numerous published studies, along with internal Fitbit data, continue to demonstrate the health benefits of using a fitness tracker combined with a mobile app to support health and fitness goals.
‘Fitbit continues to invest in the development of new devices and innovative motivational tools and social features to further enhance user engagement and help individuals achieve their health and fitness goals.’