Are fitness trackers our friends or foes?

Fitness tracking has come a long way since the humble pedometer came into fashion during the early 2000s. It is estimated that the fitness tracker and wearable market is currently worth over $15 billion worldwide, and this figure does not include the use of smart phone apps such as MyFitnessPal- an app that counts calories against exercise. However, despite the evident popularity of such technologies, one may wonder how beneficial these trackers actually are to one’s overall health.

One of the most famous fitness trackers is the Fitbit, a watch that first and foremost counts your steps by using location and motion sensitive technology. The general aim is to encourage you to walk 10,000 steps a day. The Fitbit vibrates when you do not move hourly and gives you constant reminders to get back moving, inspiring its wearers to become more active on a daily basis. While this may seem innocent enough, the reality could be very different. People have criticised the Fitbit and other trackers for being a burden, and making them feel guilty for not reaching certain goals. If you’ve had a particularly tiring day at university, the last thing you want to do is walk another 4,000 steps on a dark, rainy evening just to rack up a number on a watch, right?

People have criticised the Fitbit and other trackers for being a burden, and making them feel guilty for not reaching certain goals…

To add to this point, a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that participants wearing tracking devices were less productive in losing weight and sticking to their goal than those following an exercise and dietary programme. Participants using a tracker were thought to become reliant on the device to succeed, and therefore made very few other changes to their lifestyle in order to reach their goals. On the other hand,  those who focused on a range of exercise and ate well without a tracker remained more productive and on target to achieve their weight loss target. It is easy to see that when people have reached their 10,000 steps, they then might not go to that spin class that they had been planning to attend, because in their eyes – and to an extent their tracker’s – they have reached their exercise goal for the day. In other words, as well as making you feel inadequate for doing too little, a fitness tracker can also give you an excuse to not push yourself further. It seems that we just can’t win.

Fitness tracking can also be done through calorie counting apps, such as MyFitnessPal. These are used by a range of people with a variety of goals: fitness trainers, those wanting to lose weight and those wanting to gain muscle. MyFitnessPal works by either weighing quantities of foodstuffs or scanning the barcode of the product into the app.  By entering in a portion size, the app is then able to calculate how many calories are in each overall meal. The app also gives nutritional information about the food, such as protein and fat percentages. This can have both positive and negative effects. On a basic level, it can make one more aware of the food being consumed. However, in an age where calorie counting is a sensitive subject for many young people, the app is able to fuel addictive habits. Entering everything you consume into an online diary could make it all too easy for you to torture yourself about your diet. This may lead to users not eating balanced meals, or beginning to feel guilty for eating the rare chocolate bar. Furthermore, when eating out in a restaurant this app is just not practical. One cannot carry scales around constantly, and it would be fruitless to start guessing portion sizes and other hidden ingredients that may have been used in the cooking process.

In an age where calorie counting is a sensitive subject for many young people, the app is able to fuel addictive habits…

Nevertheless, I don’t think we should be too harsh on the fitness tracker, as they can help beginners to start pursuing a more active lifestyle. Yes, fitness trackers can give an obscured view on our overall picture of health, potentially create addictive habits and exacerbate mental health issues, the opposite effect of their intended purpose. If you feel like this may be the case for you, it may be best to steer clear.  However, when partnered with a balanced diet, a whole range of exercises tailored to goals suitable for each individual, and with medical or professional advice sought where needed, they can undoubtedly have benefits.