American scientists found that the appearance of fitness bracelets did not cause an increase in the physical activity of users. This is reported by The Conversation.
Researchers from the University of Idaho, the University of Tennessee and the University of North Florida found that the advent of wearable fitness devices was useless and did not have a positive impact on the overall activity of the population.
Despite the popularity of smart devices, the average level of physical activity in recent years has decreased, not increased — smart gadgets have not helped people move more and have not changed their lives.
Scientists analyzed data obtained from various sources from residents from eight countries — Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United States. The research was carried out between 1995 and 2017. The authors of the generalizing scientific work believed that the growing popularity of fitness trackers would positively affect the increase in the physical activity of users, but did not find evidence for this hypothesis.
“We found that, overall, the researchers recorded a fairly consistent decline in physical activity, with the same decline in each geographic region and in both sexes,” the scientists noted. It turned out that by 2017, the average user of a fitness bracelet or other similar equipment walked only 1,100 steps a day.
Experts could not name the reasons for the decrease in activity among the population. The scientists concluded that fitness devices can measure various indicators of health, but without goal setting and self-control, these devices are useless.
Earlier, doctors called the high cost the main problem of smart watches as a device for analyzing health indicators. A study by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed that accessories with medical functions are usually purchased by people with a good education and high incomes.
