Mixed
Wearable activity trackers have small or non-significant effects on physiological markers (blood pressure, cholesterol, glycosylated haemoglobin) and psychosocial outcomes (quality of life, pain).
While using a wearable activity tracker will likely increase your physical activity and help with weight loss, do not expect it to significantly lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar on its own. Similarly, improvements in quality of life or pain reduction are not guaranteed. The primary benefit is increased movement.
Effects for other physiological (blood pressure, cholesterol, and glycosylated haemoglobin) and psychosocial (quality of life and pain) outcomes were typically small and often non-significant.
Why this rating
Based on umbrella review, but results were often non-significant.
Source
Effectiveness of wearable activity trackers to increase physical activity and improve health: a systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses
Ty Ferguson et al. · The Lancet Digital Health · 2022
DOI 10.1016/s2589-7500(22)00111-x
More from this paper
- Wearable activity trackers effectively increase daily physical activity, resulting in an average increase of 1800 steps per day and 40 minutes of walking per day across diverse populations.Good
- Wearable activity trackers lead to improvements in body composition, specifically bodyweight and waist circumference, with large effect sizes for bodyweight reduction.Moderate
Related findings · Mixed
- Bariatric surgery (VSG and RYGB) is the most effective and sustainable treatment for obesity, producing marked and sustained weight loss that non-surgical interventions cannot match.Strong
- Severely protein-deficient diets (2–3% energy) induce lean body mass loss and metabolic imbalance, whereas adequate protein intake (0.66 g/kg/d minimum) is a prerequisite for maintaining muscle, bone, and physiological function.Strong
- For patients with Class III obesity (BMI >39.9 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) is significantly more effective than any currently approved medication, with BilioPancreatic Diversion (BPD) showing the highest estimated weight loss.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →