FitBits, Jawbones, Apple Watches. Fitness trackers are everywhere these days and everyone - from super-toned gym bunnies to flabby middle-aged dads and even fashion editors - seems to have one.
FitBits、Jawbones和苹果手表都是智能手环。而今到处可见健身追踪器,似乎每个人--从超级健身爱好者到有点肥胖的老爸甚至是时尚编辑--都有智能手环。
They're marketed as a way to help you lose weight, by enabling you to keep track of your steps, sleep and calorie intake (when paired with apps like MyFitnessPal). However, new research suggests they might not actually help us lose weight after all.
营销人士说佩戴智能手环能帮助减肥,因为它能追踪你走了多少步,你的睡眠状况和摄入的卡路里量(与MyFitnessPal配合使用时)。然而,新的研究表明这些健身追踪器也许根本就不能帮助你减肥。
A study by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that using fitness trackers as an aid to weight loss was no more beneficial than typical weight loss methods and may even make us gain weight.
匹兹堡大学的研究员们开展了一项研究,该研究已发表在了《美国医学协会》的杂志上。研究发现使用健身追踪器减肥并不比传统的减肥方式更有效,甚至还可能让我们增重。
During the two-year study, 471 overweight young people (aged 18 to 25) were put on a low-calorie diet, a prescribed fitness plan and were asked to keep a diet diary and attend weekly group counselling sessions. After six months, everyone had lost weight - an average of between 7.7kg to 8.6kg.
在这项长达2年的研究中,471位过胖的年轻人(18-25岁)进行了低热量饮食、规定的健身计划实验,研究员们还要求他们每天写下自己的饮食日记,每周参加集体咨询会议。六个月后,每个人都瘦了--平均每人瘦7.7kg到8.6kg。
Then half the participants were given fitness trackers to use for 18 months, while the other half logged their activity using a website, a more typical dieting method.
之后的18个月,研究员们让一半的参试者佩戴健身追踪器,另一半的人则使用更加传统的饮食方法,即在网站上记录他们的活动。
By the end of the study, the group using fitness trackers had lost less weight than the control group. They lost 3.5kg on average, while the group monitoring their progress online lost an average of 5.9kg.
研究最后发现使用健身追踪器的人没有对照组的人瘦的多。使用智能手环的一组人平均瘦了3.5kg,而在网上记录进程的一组平均瘦了5.9kg。
The results surprised the researchers and the data didn't make it clear exactly why using fitness trackers made dieters less likely to lose weight.
研究结果令研究人员感到震惊,并且这一数据并未清楚的解释使用健身追踪器的节食者更不容易减肥的原因。
One possible reason, said lead researcher Dr John Jakicic, is that the fitness tracker group may have been more likely to feel they owed themselves "treats" upon seeing their progress, leading them to lose less weight than the other group. There's also a chance they may have felt disheartened and given up early if they knew they weren't going to hit their daily goal.
首席研究员John Jakicic博士认为一个可能的原因就是:使用智能手环的这一组人在看到自己的进度之后,更会觉得要好好犒赏自己,这就导致他们没有另一组人员的减肥效果好。也有可能当他们得知自己每天的运动量都不达标时,他们会觉得心灰意冷,想要提早放弃。
Some previous studies, by contrast, have found fitness trackers can promote weight loss, and Jakicic did acknowledge that these devices may be effective for certain people.
相反,早前的一些研究却发现健身追踪器能促进减肥,Jakicic承认这些设备对特定人群是有效的。
Still, it's something to bear in mind before you invest in your own pricey little plastic personal trainer.
不过,在你购买这个昂贵的塑料私人小教练时,本文倒给你提了个醒。
译文属可可原创,仅供学习交流使用,未经许可请勿转载