How ‘fatbit’ f itness gadgets exaggerate step count

THEY are the must-have gadgets for the health-conscious who are striving to walk 10,000 steps a day. But new research suggests that activity monitors such as Fitbits may be over-estimating the number of steps users actually take by up to 25%.

In tests, some gadgets registered ‘movements’ when volunteers were sitting at a desk typing or standing still, washing dishes or stacking books.

The gadgets contain a tiny device called an accelerometer to detect motion, with the number of steps often based on counting arm movements forwards and backwards, which can be deceptive.

Findings from the National University of Ireland in Galway suggest that some users who think they have racked up the recommended 10,000 steps a day – roughly five miles – may actually have achieved only 7,500.

Researchers filmed 37 men and women and compared readings on five different devices with the activity actually done.

The results, published in the Public Library of Science journal PLOS One, showed that the Jawbone UP device registered a false positive – counting a step when there isn’t one – up to 25% of the time, and the Fitbit One about 10% of the time. The researchers noted: ‘All monitors registered a significant number of false positives.’

Fitbit said its trackers ‘are not intended to be scientific or medical devices’ but that they monitor ‘overall health and fitness trends’ to help users get in shape.