Also, fewer adults and children walk or bike to school or work than 25 years ago. For example, in the late 1960s, most American children ages 5 to 14 biked or walked to school. Since then, this “active transportation” has largely been replaced by car travel. Fees for school bus or public transportation have seen little change.
FITNESS TRACKS ARE STILL USEFUL
So if fitness levels have declined at the same time fitness tracking has grown in popularity, what makes these devices useful?
Fitness trackers can help increase people’s awareness of their daily physical activity. However, these devices are only part of the solution to address the problem of sedentary lifestyle. They are facilitators, rather than drivers, of behavior change.
When a person’s physical activity decreases, it opens the door to reduced fitness levels in general and other health problems such as obesity or diabetes. On the other hand, physical activity has a dramatic positive impact on health and well-being.
The first step to increasing active movement is to measure it, which these devices can do. But successfully increasing one’s overall physical activity requires several additional factors, such as goal setting, self-monitoring, positive feedback, and social support.
Scott A Conger is Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology at Boise State University, David Bassett is Professor and Department Chair of Kinesiology, Recreation and Sports Studies at the University of Tennessee, and Lindsay Toth is Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Tennessee. North Florida. this comment first appeared in The Conversation.
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