A study led by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh has found that people who wear fitness trackers may lose less weight than people who don't. As reported in JAMA, the study followed 471 overweight adults between 18 and 35 years old for two years. The group was put on a low-calorie diet for six months, instructed to increase their physical activity, and were counseled … [Read more...]
JAMA Says Fitbit Makes The Most Accurate Fitness Tracker, But It’s Not The One You Think
The apparent inaccuracy of wearable fitness trackers has long bugged us, but we had been unable to put real scientific numbers to it. Fortunately, there are real researchers in the world, and they've established scientifically that most of the step-counting data you get from trackers is pretty bad. A letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association -- as mainstream … [Read more...]
Could Lottery-Style Rewards Be The Key to Wearables Success?
We're just catching up with an interesting article about wearables in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Doctors Mitesh S. Patel, David A. Asch, and Kevin G. Volpp, all of the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, suggest that "concepts from behavioral economics" might be key to getting people to continue involvement with their wearable tech for longer than the current … [Read more...]