Are Fitbits implicated in body image concerns and disordered eating in women?

Abstract

Objective: Using a daily monitoring framework, we examined the psychological consequences of Fitbit self-tracking on state body satisfaction, disordered eating (DE; i.e., binge eating and dietary restraint), levels of exercise engagement, and motivations (appearance vs. fitness/health) in adult women. A further aim within the Fitbit group was to assess whether the level of steps achieved on 1 day would be associated with the state-based outcome measures on the subsequent day. Method: In total, 262 participants who had never used a wearable fitness self-tracking device were allocated to a Fitbit (n ϭ 101) or control condition (n ϭ 161). Participants provided baseline data on sociodemographics, eating pathology, and exercise and then completed a 10-day Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) protocol assessing exercise amount and motives, body satisfaction, and DE symptoms via a mobile application. Those in the Fitbit condition wore a Fitbit over the entire assessment period. Results: The use of a Fitbit over a 10-day period had no significant effects on exercise behavior or body satisfaction compared to a control group. However, those in the Fitbit group were more likely to exercise to reach fitness goals and less likely to engage in dietary restraint and binge-eating behavior. Among participants in the Fitbit condition, steps achieved the previous day were not predictive of exercise engagement, body satisfaction, or DE symptoms on the subsequent day. Conclusions: Our study failed to link fitness self-tracking to body dissatisfaction and DE, at least in the early stages of use. Future research directions regarding alternative pathways through which self-tracking devices may exert negative influences are discussed.

Perceived influence of wearable fitness trackers on eating disorder symptoms in a clinical transdiagnostic binge eating and restrictive eating sample

“…It is possible that for a small number of individuals, the fitness trackers were helpful in encouraging adaptive behavior change, like limiting binge eating. This supports previous work in a non-clinical ED sample, which found users of fitness trackers were less likely to report engagement in ED behaviors compared to individuals who did not use fitness trackers [ 6 ]. On the other hand, for a small number of individuals in the maladaptive exercise group, they continued to perceive the fitness tracker influenced them to restrict their intake even though they were no longer reporting that they perceived the fitness tracker influenced them to engage in maladaptive exercise.…”

“…Given some individuals with EDs seem to experience positive effects while others experience negative effects from fitness trackers on overall PA engagement and maladaptive PA, it is difficult to draw conclusions on whether fitness trackers are beneficial or harmful for individuals with EDs, which is in line with the mixed literature on the impact of fitness trackers in non-clinical ED populations [ 6 , 8 , 10 , 18 ]. It seems possible that with caution and proper psychoeducation, fitness trackers may be able to benefit some individuals with EDs and help promote individuals receiving CBT-E to engage in greater levels of overall adaptive PA. Further, general trends demonstrated the individuals perceived the fitness trackers influenced them to engage in physical activity more towards the beginning of treatment and gradually decreased over the 12-week treatment.…”

“…This included a 3-item weekly pre-session questionnaire and a 5-item mid-treatment and post-treatment questionnaire measuring two constructs: (1) perceived fitness tracker reactivity and (2) the perception of the fitness trackers influence on ED symptoms. The specific items used to measure perceived fitness tracker reactivity [ 6 ], Maher, Ryan, Ambrosi, & Edney, 2017) and perception of influence on ED symptoms [ 6 , 8 , 18 ] were based on previous work that similarly assessed these constructs.…”

“…Two were observational studies of university students or young adults which found fitness tracker devices and apps (e.g., Fitbit) were associated with ED symptomatology (e.g., rates of binge eating or purging) and higher rates of body dissatisfaction [ 8 , 18 ]. The third study assigned half their sample of university students to wear fitness trackers and found those that were assigned to wear fitness trackers were more likely to report exercising to support their health and fitness and were less likely to report engagement in ED behaviors (e.g., dietary restraint, binge eating) [ 6 ]. A major limitation of all the studies described above is that none of them included individuals with a diagnosed ED.…”

A Protocol Study to Establish Psychological Outcomes From the Use of Wearables for Health and Fitness Monitoring

“…To analyze the data acquired through this interview study, we will use Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. This method aims at clarifying how people make sense of their bodies within a larger context ( 21 ), and as such, it enables us to identify patterns of bodily alienation and empowerment in the data on using the self-tracking app Strava.…”