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Fitness trackers really do help increase physical activity levels

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By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Fitness trackers really do help increase physical activity levels, according to a new study.

Researchers found a "small to moderate" positive effect with users clocking up 1,235 extra steps a day and 50 extra minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week while reducing time spent sitting down.

The study, published by The BMJ, concluded that physical activity monitors, such as fitness apps and wearable activity trackers, may be useful at a time when many adults don’t meet recommended activity levels.

Researchers in Denmark searched databases for trials comparing activity levels in adults who received feedback from physical activity monitors with control interventions in which no feedback was provided.

They found 121 randomized controlled trials involving more than 16,700 mainly healthy 18 to 65-year-olds.

Most of the trials were European (31 percent) or North American (40 percent) with an average intervention period of around 12 weeks.

The median age of study participants was 47, with a higher proportion of women than men.

Overall, the interventions showed a "moderate" effect on physical activity - equivalent to 1,235 daily steps, a "small" effect on moderate to vigorous physical activity - equivalent to 48.5 weekly minutes, and a "small but insignificant" effect on sedentary time, equal to 9.9 daily minutes.

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Study author Doctor Rasmus Tolstrup Larsen, of the University of Copenhagen, said: "For all outcomes, physical activity monitors that provided feedback were more effective than those that did not provide feedback."

He said the research was the first systematic review to summarise the entire body of evidence across different patient groups and different types of physical activity monitors.

Dr. Larsen added: "It provides evidence for using physical activity monitors for enhancing physical activity and moderate to vigorous physical activity at a time when large, feasible, and scalable interventions are urgently needed.”

The research team called for future studies to investigate how physical activity monitors can be used in combination with other behavioral change strategies or how they might affect sedentary time.

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