Health

Doctors' Web site offers connections for fun and exercise

Social networks influence weight, and this physician-created effort aims to eliminate one excuse for a sedentary lifestyle.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott — Posted Oct. 22, 2007

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Kevin Robertson, DO, and Philip O'Halloran, MD, were on the Utah slopes a few years ago hoping to cross paths with other skiers when an idea occurred to them. It would be useful to have a Web site linking people who participate in various physical activities, such as skiing. In turn, this network could help people become more physically active and try out new activities. As an added benefit, it might help eliminate at least one excuse -- not having an activity partner -- that so many patients had given them for not getting off the couch.

"We want to take that excuse away," said Dr. O'Halloran, a staff emergency physician at St. John Health in Warren, Mich.

Dr. Robertson and Dr. O'Halloran have been friends since their residencies years ago, and both participate in a wide array of sports, including running, swimming, mountain biking and martial arts. They decided to create a Web site (link) for people who already are physically active, like them, and want to meet others. The site also is for those who want to become more active and for whom having a partner might make it more likely that they will stay that way.

"We think there are more people like us out there who dabble in many different sports," Dr. O'Halloran said.

Their site now has about 10,000 members, gets more than 60,000 hits a day and hosts more than 170 communities dedicated to specific activities -- from bird-watching to wrestling. Members can upload videos and photos, write blogs dedicated to their sports and establish an events calendar.

"How many people don't do things they want to because they cannot find a partner to do it with? They can be living on the same block with a rollerblader or skier. They just don't know who they are," said Dr. Robertson, who is also the owner of Health First Medical Center in Lake Orion, Mich. "This Web site has the connectivity to help people get active."

Numerous other sites exist to unite people for the purpose of participating in physical activity. Some are dedicated to one specific sport while others bring active individuals together for more social purposes. This one is part of an overall trend of physicians attempting to affect their local communities to address the obesity epidemic. The American Medical Association has long been concerned with the number of people who are overweight or obese.

Studies also suggest that a person's social environment plays a significant role in that person's weight. For instance, a study in the July 26 New England Journal of Medicine found that obesity seemed to spread through social ties. Spouses, siblings and friends influenced a person's weight, although neighbors did not.

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External links

Funspot Pals (link)

The American Medical Association's policy on treatment of obesity (link)

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