VOA慢速英语2016 研究：健身追踪器能帮你减肥吗？

Study: Do Fitness Trackers Help You Lose Weight? 研究：健身追踪器能帮你减肥吗？

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

这里是“美国之声”慢速英语《健康与生活》报道。

We begin with bad news for people who bought a wearable fitness tracker in hopes of losing weight.

节目的开始，对希望通过佩戴健身追踪器来减肥的人来说，这儿有一个坏消息。

A new study finds the electronic device probably does not help with weight loss.The study was a project of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

最新研究表明，这种电子设备对减肥没有帮助。美国宾西法尼亚州匹兹堡大学的研究人员进行了这项研究。

Fitness trackers are designed to record your physical activity.They are usually worn around the wrist, where they measure a person’s heart rate.

健身追踪器旨在记录身体活动。它们经常被佩戴在手腕上，可以记录人的心率。

The University of Pittsburgh research team looked at two groups of individuals.The first wore a fitness tracker and took part in health counseling.In other words, they spoke 1 with nutrition and physical fitness experts to consider the best weight loss plan.

匹兹堡大学的研究团队观察了两组人。其中一组佩戴了健身追踪器，并参加了健康咨询。换句话说，他们与营养和运动专家交流，考虑最佳的减肥方案。

The researchers compared this group with people who only took part in health counseling.

研究人员将这组人的情况与只参加健康咨询的人做对比。

The study found that those who simply had health counseling lost more weight than those who had counseling and wore a fitness tracker.In fact, those who only spoke with the health experts lost nearly six kilograms.Those who used a fitness tracker lost only 3.5 kilograms.

研究发现，只参加健康咨询的人，比参加健康咨询又佩戴了时健康追踪器的人减得多。事实上，只参加健康咨询的人减了将近6公斤。佩戴了健康追踪器的人只减了3.5公斤。

John Jakicic is the lead researcher.He is also chairman of the university’s Department of Health and Physical Activity.He questioned the use of electronic devices as tools for weight control in place of“effective behavioral counseling for physical activity and diet.”

约翰·舍契克是研究负责人。他也是匹兹堡大学健康和体育活动系系主任。他质疑这种电子设备代替“对体育活动和节食的有效行为咨询”作为体重控制工具的用途。

The study involved 470 subjects between the ages of 18 and 35.Some of them were overweight, while others were heavier and considered obese 2.Over three fourths of the subjects were women, and 29 percent were minorities.

参加这项研究的研究对象一共有470人，年龄在18岁到35岁之间。其中一些人超重，另一些人更胖一些，称之为“肥胖”。其中超过四分之三的人是女性，29%的人是少数族裔。

The researchers told all the subjects to increase their physical activity.The men and women also were told to start on a low calorie diet.

研究人员要求所有研究对象增加体育锻炼。这些男人和女人也被告知要开始食用低卡路里饮食。

The subjects were told to have their weight measured once every six months over the two-year study.

在两年的研究里，研究对象被告知每六个月要量一次体重。

After six months, researchers divided the group into two parts:one continued with monthly counseling, while members of the other group were given a wearable fitness tracker.

六个月后，研究人员把他们分成了两组。一组坚持每个月进行健康咨询，另一组每人都发了一个可穿戴的健康追踪器。

Eighteen months later,both groups “showed significant improvements in body composition, fitness, physical activity, and diet,”with no major difference between groups.

十八个月以后，两组人都“在身体结构、形体、体育运动和饮食上有显著的进步”，但是没有太大差别。

However, when it came to losing weight,the people who spoke with experts lost nearly twice as much weight.

但是，在减重量这一项上，和专家交流过的那一组几乎是另一组的两倍。

Jakicic said the study’s findings “are important because effective long-term treatments are needed to address America’s obesity 3 epidemic 4.”He warned that “questions remain regarding the effectiveness of wearable devices.”

舍契克说，这项研究的发现“是很重要的，因为对美国肥胖疾病来说，长久有效的治疗是非常必要的。”他提醒说：“关于佩戴设备是否有效，仍需要进一步研究”

More information is needed, he adds, to learn how to best use these devices to change“physical activity and diet behaviors” in adults who want to lose weight.

他补充说，对那些想要减肥的成年人来说，要想知道如何最好地利用这些器件来改变“体育运动和饮食行为”，还需要更多信息。

The researchers published their findings in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

研究人员们的发现刊登在《美国医学协会期刊》上。

Words in This Story

fitness -– n. the quality or state of being fit

tracker – n. a device that is aware of a fact, progression or condition

counseling – n. advice and support that is given to people to help them deal with problems, make important decisions, etc.

calorie – n. a unit of heat used to indicate the amount of energy that foods will produce in the human body

composition – n. the way in which something is put together or arranged : the combination of parts or elements that make up something

journal – n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people