Worldwide sales of fitness trackers increased from $14 billion in 2017 to over $36 billion in 2020. The skyrocketing success of these gadgets suggests that more people than ever see some value in keeping tabs on the number of steps they take, the flights of stairs they climb, the time they spend sitting, and the calories they burn. An analysis of research published over the past 25 years suggests otherwise.
David Bassett, a professor and head of the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, explains that despite the surge in sales of fitness trackers, physical activity has declined from 1995 to 2017.
So if levels of physical activity have dropped at the same time that the popularity of fitness tracking has grown, what makes these gadgets useful? Read the full article on The Conversation.
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Lindsey Owen (865-974-6375, lowen8@utk.edu)