House Hearing On Russian Interference In 2016 Election, Fitness Trackers Don’t Necessarily Make Us Healthier, How Our Brain Deals With False Information

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• House Intelligence Committee Hearing On The Alleged Collusion Between Trump's Campaign And Russia

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  On Monday FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the House Intelligence Committee about Russian interference in teh 2016 presidential election. For the first time, he publicly confirmed that the FBI is investigating an alleged collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign. A POLITICOPro reporter discusses Monday’s hearing.

• Your Fitbit Might Not Be Making You Healthier

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  Yesterday, there was the pedometer. Today there’s the Fitbit, Viviosmart and even Apple Watch.

  It’s all part of what is called the quantified self movement, which has its roots in the 20th century and only seems to be growing in popularity in recent years. The movement uses technology to acquire data on a person’s day-to-day activity — anything from the amount you sleep, to how many calories you eat, to the number of steps you take.

  Fitbit, one of the pioneers of modern fitness tracking, sold 11 million devices based on its 2015 IPO filing. But a University of Pittsburgh study is showing wearable fitness devices like a Fitbit aren’t necessarily making people any healthier than they would be if they weren’t using a wearable fitness tracker at all.

  The reason is the same one that explains why a lot of weight loss and fitness initiatives don’t work out. People make healthy changes in the short term, but don’t stick to them in the long run.

  “In some ways this is not too surprising,” said Regan Gurung, professor of human development and psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. “(People probably) have something in their basements that they bought to help them with their fitness. They used it when they first got it, and now it’s just gathering dust. A fitness tracker is not that different.”

  Gurung said the data provided by a fitness tracker might nudge people to make healthier choices, but after a period of time, the results aren’t as impressive.

  The University of Pittsburgh study followed more than 470 adults between ages 18 and 35 over the course of two years. Gurung said the large sample size and longer period of observation was part of why the results were able to conclude fitness devices have lower efficacy than previously thought.

  “There’s a big uptick in how active people are when they buy it (a fitness tracker) and once they first use it, but then it drops off,” he said, adding that if the study only observed a person’s health after six months of using a fitness tracker, the conclusion would be they ultimately do increase fitness.

  Gurung said the bottom line for making a wearable fitness tracker work is the same one for any new tool meant to support your health: stick with your new healthy habits for the long haul.

  “A phrase that all of us have to keep in mind, is that whatever change we put in place, we’ve got to keep at it. Whether it’s more walking, whether it’s running more, or exercising more, or watching what we eat, we’ve got to keep at it.”

• Why Fitness Trackers Might Not Make You Healthier

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  New research shows that wearing a fitness tracker may not automatically lead to better health. A social psychologist digs into what might be missing in the equation, and how we can get better results.

• How Our Brains Can Cut Through Bad Data, Half-Truths, And Fake News

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  Our brains can be easy marks when it comes to believing the untrue. A neuroscientist shares advice on how to train our brains to see through alternate facts, fake news, half-truths, and outright lies.