Madeline Holcombe wrote this article in CNN:
The fitness tracker on your phone or wrist may be doing more than just monitoring your steps -- it could kick them up a notch.
Monitoring exercise increased that activity among the more than 16,000 participants in a study published last week.
Researchers looked at data from 121 randomized control trials and 141 study comparisons to find what impact exercise monitors -- like those found on phone apps and Fitbits -- had on everyday physical activity, moderate and vigorous physical activity, and sedentary time, according to the study.
Using fitness apps increased everyday physical activity by an equivalent of 1,235 steps a day, and moderate and vigorous physical activity by 48.5 minutes a week, research showed. The impact on sedentary time was insignificant, according to the study.
"People who use activity monitors and wearables are more active than people that do not," said Rasmus Tolstrup Larsen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen's department of public health.
"These effects are highly relevant in terms of health and risk of diseases, especially among people who are only moderately active or do not meet current guidelines for physical activity," he said via email. Larsen is also a management consultant at IQVIA Healthcare.
The efficacy of fitness monitors has been a commonly investigated question since they hit the market, but this study takes the largest comprehensive look to date, Larsen said.
And it comes as many people are looking to get moving again during a pandemic that has created conditions encouraging more sedentary behavior.
"In a post-Covid time, the need for focus on behavioural change in relation to physical activity and inactivity is as urgent as ever before," Larsen said via email. "Modern physical activity monitors (wearables, smart watches or fitness-trackers) have the potential to be used as facilitators for behavioural change, providing direct feedback on activity to the user."
While the study is "careful and useful," it does raise further questions, said Dr. David Asch, a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the Center for Health Care Innovation. He said he would have liked to see an analysis as well of how the different trials the study examined used rewards and incentives.
The fitness tracker on your phone or wrist may be doing more than just monitoring your steps -- it could kick them up a notch.
Monitoring exercise increased that activity among the more than 16,000 participants in a study published last week.
Researchers looked at data from 121 randomized control trials and 141 study comparisons to find what impact exercise monitors -- like those found on phone apps and Fitbits -- had on everyday physical activity, moderate and vigorous physical activity, and sedentary time, according to the study.
Using fitness apps increased everyday physical activity by an equivalent of 1,235 steps a day, and moderate and vigorous physical activity by 48.5 minutes a week, research showed. The impact on sedentary time was insignificant, according to the study.
"People who use activity monitors and wearables are more active than people that do not," said Rasmus Tolstrup Larsen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen's department of public health.
"These effects are highly relevant in terms of health and risk of diseases, especially among people who are only moderately active or do not meet current guidelines for physical activity," he said via email. Larsen is also a management consultant at IQVIA Healthcare.
The efficacy of fitness monitors has been a commonly investigated question since they hit the market, but this study takes the largest comprehensive look to date, Larsen said.
And it comes as many people are looking to get moving again during a pandemic that has created conditions encouraging more sedentary behavior.
"In a post-Covid time, the need for focus on behavioural change in relation to physical activity and inactivity is as urgent as ever before," Larsen said via email. "Modern physical activity monitors (wearables, smart watches or fitness-trackers) have the potential to be used as facilitators for behavioural change, providing direct feedback on activity to the user."
While the study is "careful and useful," it does raise further questions, said Dr. David Asch, a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the Center for Health Care Innovation. He said he would have liked to see an analysis as well of how the different trials the study examined used rewards and incentives.
