Do fitness trackers work?

An article in Scientific American poses the question here of 'Fitness Trackers Are Everywhere, but Do They Work?'

Seen as a gimmick by many and a saviour by others this booming market in personal performance data has posed many questions.

The main one, as in the article, is do they actually do what they say on the box?

The general feeling conveyed by author  David Pogue is that no, not really. In very general terms they aren't that accurate and some of the data they claim to gather is not usually available from your wrist. Where they excel however is that act as a motivational tool (in a similar manner that sports supplements do) by keeping the issues front-of-mind and thereby keeping us aware of or intentions.

As with most motivational tools they can easily be perceived a s a silver bullet but at the end of the day you still have to front-up & do the hard yards yourself, be it diet, exercise or both!