Hate to say this, but this is a clickbait article that falls in line with the trend of the last 12–18 months of
> how fitness trackers don’t help us (as opposed to those with no fitness trackers?)
> How some people get depressed using fitness trackers because they feel they have to compete with their friends (no — just like a drinking game, you can opt-out)
> That fitness trackers and apps like strava cause anxiety especially for those who are very competitive and always need to be number one (Again I am not sure it is the fitness trackers fault?)
The only thing that articles like this do, is the inactive person in the office who says “I don’t use them because I hear they xxxx”
And also the other classic clickbait articles generally have lines like:
> “ Just 2000 steps can help older people!” (errr yes, compared to 0 steps — it is also used by many bloggers to sell you a “Just 5 mins of xxx a day can help you xxxxx” — yes it probably can, but like any life hack, you will find that shortcuts often prove to be detours
> “10,000 steps is a made-up number” (humans need simple numbers to use as targets — if you prefer to use 9435 steps well fine — or 10343 — but 10,000 is good for a ballpark figure. IT IS ALSO NOT A MADE UP NUMBER TO SELL PEDOMETERS! — sheesh! — it was based on a Japanese research team lead by Dr. Yoshiro Hatano and popularised as 10,000 steps as a “bragging right/easy for humans to understand” target
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5293674_Revisiting_How_Many_Steps_Are_Enough
> “I read that BMI is rubbish” — well — no. It's not. It gives you a good ballpark figure to work with and it certainly allows you to have a simple target (bragging right as above” to aim for.) There are better ways to get the FINE details but they require the intervention of a clinician
have a try of this https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43697948
When the BBC ran that and this story Britain needs to go on a diet, says top health official https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43201586
— the trolling began and the lots of people complained
So the BBC responded with Can we trust BMI to measure obesity? https://www.bbc.com/news/health-43201586
(Not that people bothered to read it I am sure, they just complained and spread the fake news as always — whilst munching on a 2000 kcal Empire State Burger at Wetherspoons
Of course, it cannot tell you the fine details — but trust me — go look at your BMI, and then do a proper clinician intervention test. Now get to the BMI and level for YOU and do the same clinical intervention test.
Have your stats improved? Probably AND IF NOT — at least you now know that you may require some further clinical intervention to help you.
So, are fitness trackers not helping us?
This is the biggest problem, PEOPLE DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE THEM!!! They are dumb devices
Active mins, at least 30 mins a day at 3 miles (120 steps a min) speed — “Huh, whats that then? !!!!! ARRRRG !!!!! here's a metronome — set it to 120–130 beats a min — now walk at that speed.
- What is your daily average “Oh I am sure I do over 10,000 a day”
Do you have a tracker? “No”
hmmm ok …
2. What is your daily average “Oh I am sure I do over 10,000 a day”
Do you have a tracker? “Yes”
Well lets look at your 30 day average — look its saying yours is only 4500
“Yea I read these trackers are really inaccurate … I am sure I do 10,000 steps a day”
Hmmmm ok
3. What is your daily average “Oh I am sure I do over 10,000 a day BUT I am still putting on weight”
Do you have a tracker? “Yes”
Ok Well lets look at your 30 day average — WOW look its saying yours is 10,000 steps a day — bravo — do you know how much you eat each day?”
“Huh?”
I mean like have you maybe kept between 1800–2000 calories a day
“Oh I am sure I eat WAAAAAY LESS than 1800–2000 calories a day”
Do you track this?
“No”
Hmmmm ok … (by the way they believe that 50% of the British population may be eating 3000 kcal a day)
So instead of writing an article like this, how about really looking at the issues and writing a story that educates people? Because that would be awesome
I am sorry if I sounded harsh here, but it is exactly articles like these that set percepctions that lead people who are struggling to find reasons not to better themselves
(p.s. global surveys of people using pedometers, the data shows they reach 6500–7500 steps I believe, and they think this is partly due to the fact that they ACTUALLY are tracking)
