BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Researchers found that Internet-based exercise programs worked as well as printed advice in getting sedentary adults to take up regular physical activity, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday.

    Researchers at Rhode Island's Miriam Hospital, an affiliate of Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School, found people who took part in a tailored Internet exercise program went from doing virtually no exercise to an average of two hours a week.

    After six months of following a tailored Internet program, users were exercising 120 minutes per week, they reported.

    The study included 249 sedentary adults who were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group used a Web site developed by the researchers to support participants' exercise efforts. A second group was provided with links to six Web sites run by professional medical and fitness organizations. The third group received printed materials by mail.

    Participants in all of the groups kept daily activity logs and completed questionnaires designed to keep them on track with their exercise regimens. The difference was that the group using the specially tailored Web site got immediate email feedback.

    One year later, all three groups were doing similarly well, Dr. Bess H. Marcus, lead study author, and her colleagues found. Those who used the tailored Web site were getting an average of 90 minutes of exercise per week, as were men and women in the group that received help by mail.

    Study participants who used a Web site program they picked out were getting 80 minutes of exercise per week, on average.

    In general, experts recommend that adults get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, on most days of the week.

    The findings are important, said the study authors, because they suggest that millions of sedentary Americans could be reached through one of the modern conveniences blamed for keeping them chair-bound.

    "In 2006, 147 million American adults were Internet users," Marcus said in a statement.

    "If sedentary individuals are at least as likely as active individuals to use the Internet, this means roughly 80 million under-active adults are online and might be reached via Web-based interventions," said Marcus.

        According to Marcus's team, more studies should investigate the power of the Internet to reach the legions of inactive Americans sitting in front of a computer screen.

    (Agencies)