Do Fitness Trackers Improve Health?

Do Fitness Trackers Improve Health?
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Do Fitness Trackers Improve Health?
The fitness trackers are the wearable devices that monitor physical activity, communicate with the smartphone, and pass information to it. These wearable devices monitor calories consumed and received by a person, as well as physical activity indicators, are designed to help people move more and eat right. However, for users who do not take into account the peculiarities of their physiology, fitness trackers can become bad advisers for them. Rettner (2014) shared her own experience of using fitness tracker and claimed that using fitness trackers raised self-awareness level related to body movement. She used to take a consciously longer route to work as well as in the office premises. In this way, the movement can be increased intentionally. However, it is still debatable whether or not the use of such gadgets improves human health.
Fitness trackers are usually bands that understand and capture user’s activity and keep records of data. They improve the efficiency of any diet and workout by displaying each stage. In fact, it is a competent combination of a motion sensor, a micromotor, a control chip, a rechargeable battery and other tiny pieces of iron in an attractive case that is attached with a strap on the arm (Clawson, Pater, Miller, Mynatt, & Mamykina, 2015). These gadgets help the user to look after throughout the day and be aware of the slightest changes in the body’s work.
Several types of research have been conducted that assessed the effect of fitness trackers on human health. For instance, a fitness tracker was provided to obese and diabetic persons throughout seven months. The use of this tracker indicated privacy, personalization, persuasiveness, practicality, and playfulness as promoters for its usage (Randriambelonoro, 2017). The outcomes delivered an insight into designing fitness trackers to sufficiently engage the person in order to achieve a long-term effect.
Nevertheless, along with the positive effect on human health, the fitness devices may exert a negative impact as well. According to the Nursing Standard Journal (2017), the fitness trackers may adversely affect the school-going children. It was reported in a research conducted by “The University of Birmingham in collaboration with Brunel University London and Örebro University in Sweden”. The use of activity tracker by young children was assessed along with the associated health application. The children aged between 13 – 14 years were recruited, and they took part in different physical exercises throughout 8 weeks. They found that the children ended up in comparing themselves with their peers and they were evidently associating good health and fitness with “not being fat” or “fit”. This perception was supposed to be rigid for children who brought additional stress among the peers.
Furthermore, different types of fitness trackers indicated diverse results concerning the physical health of an individual. Chemi (2016) conducted research to highlight the differences in the results of different fitness trackers (Table 1). Therefore, the type of fitness tracker is also inevitable in identifying the physical parameters.
Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 1: Results of different Fitness Trackers while walking. (Chemi, 2016)
The usefulness of the fitness bracelet is provided by a variety of sensors. The accelerometer measures acceleration along the axis up and down, back and forth, left and right, the optical heart rate monitor reads the heart rate, and the pedometer relieves the owner of the fitness tracker from having to count in the mind while walking. All this data is synchronized with the application on a mobile phone, making it possible to assess the motor activity and its planning, for example, the construction of sports training (Gay & Leijdekkers, 2015). Data about the quality and duration of sleep device receives is based on the movements of the body. Therefore, it is possible to assess the motor activity of a person for a long time while he is wearing this device.
There are several benefits to using fitness gadgets and mobile fitness applications. McGill (2016) presented research conducted among 940 employees of an insurance company with an aim to modify the sedentary lifestyle of employees. The employees were divided into two cohorts; one was using Fitbit for tracking physical activities, while another cohort was using FitBit under the supervision of a fitness coach. Approximately, 46% of the participants quit using the fitness trackers after three months, around 61% after the six months, and 79% of the participants left using tracker after 12 months. It was claimed that the people with a positive attitude also quit using a fitness tracker, though on a steady scale. Therefore, in some studies, where the benefit of wearable fitness devices is still found, the result...