NYTimes: Wearables Striking Out On Weight Loss
New York Times Health columnist Aaron E. Carroll is a rare breed in journalism these days. Unafraid to share unpopular (but accurate) positions affecting society at large, his June 2015 article on Upshot emphatically exposed how diet is far and away a much more important than exercise in weight loss.
Well it’s now 2017 and Carroll, who has not changed his tune, has added a new verse: That fitness wearables aren’t making anyone fitter. Or more specifically, these devices aren’t actually helping people lose weight.
Citing the University of Pittsburgh IDEA trial done in 2010 and 2012, where half of participants were given wearable fitness devices in a pool where all participants received specific diets and were counselled to increase activity, Carroll walks us directly to the bottom line.
After 24 months in the study, participants who were given a fitness wearable lost on average almost 50% less weight than those who did not have a fitness wearable.
While we can go back to Carroll’s original Upshot article to help explain why the results were not as to be expected, it doesn’t answer it fully.
You can read the full New York Times article here.
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