Do Fitness Trackers Improve Health?

I sometimes wonder: Do fitness trackers improve health, really? As someone who is goal oriented, I admit that I am completely addicted to my Fitbit. I strive for 10,000 steps a day minimum, and have been known, on occasion, to pace my apartment in my pajamas just to see that little dashboard flip from blue to green when I hit my goal. It’s kind of scary how happy it makes me.

The Fitbit has definitely made me more conscious of the ways that I can fit in steps  outside of my daily exercise. I now park  the car far away from my destination on purpose, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and pace while I write. Actually, I’ve always done that. Now, I just do it more. But do all of these extra steps actually mean that fitness trackers improve health? A group of doctors here in LA weighed in on exactly this topic. Here is a rundown of what they had to say:

More Steps = Healthier Heart

Dr. Raj Khandwalla, a cardiologist at Cedars Sinai Heart Institute, not only believes that fitness trackers improve health, but that being able to quantify your activity with a fitness tracker will one day be able to prevent heart disease. Although more clinical trials still need to be done in order to determine whether it’s really 10,000 steps a day that will keep the heart doctor at bay, Dr. Khandwalla believes that your average daily step count will soon be as important a vital sign as your pulse, blood pressure, cholesterol level and weight. And the medical director of Keck Medicine at USC is such a fan that he will give a free fitness tracker to any of the 7,000 members of his faculty or staff who ask for one. I’d call that pretty impressive support.

Sleep Data Could Be Invaluable

Getting enough sleep seems to be the next big health frontier. We are a nation that is constantly sleep deprived. And it is definitely having an adverse affect on our health. So, anything that can improve our sleep is good, right? While Dr. Khandwalla thinks that sleep data could be invaluable for figuring out a patient’s sleep quality, Dr. Michelle Grotz-Rhone, an internist in Beverly Hills, cares more about what a patient feels like than what their gadget might say. But she does concede that the sleep data from fitness trackers can be a great springboard for discussion with a patient about their sleep habits and how they can be improved.

Competition Can Be Motivating

Whether you’ve chosen to share your Fitbit data with friends through the app or simply wind up comparing your daily steps total over a cocktail or two, competition can definitely be motivating. Personally, I am someone who tends to be more competitive with myself than others, but I will say that when my friend Glenn told me that he hits 12,000 steps a day, I thought “Well, I bet I could do that.” And I did. So, like I said, competition can be motivating.

Bottom line, a fitness tracker will definitely get you moving more. Which is good for your heart, your waistline and your stress level. All of which will improve your health. Now, whether or not that data will one day help doctors to prevent patients from having a heart attack, who knows? But all signs point towards “yes”.