Fitness Trackers Don't Help Cut Flab

Fitness trackers designed to help people keep in shape offer no useful weight loss benefit. In a two year study, 470 overweight people were placed on a low calorie diet, prescribed increases in physical activity, and had counseling sessions. Six months later, half of the volunteers were given a fitness tracker to monitor their progress. But researchers at University of Pittsburgh found those provided with wearable technology lost less weight than the control group by the end of the trial. Those with fitness trackers lost 3.5 kg, while those left to their own monitoring lost 5.9 kg on average. Researcher said it was possible those using trackers may have felt they were able to reward themselves with “treats” more than other participants, prompting lower level of weight loss.