Handheld computers nag you into fitness

STANFORD, Calif., Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Handheld personal computers may help prod U.S. couch potatoes into becoming more physically fit, a study said.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, shows a specially-programmed personal digital assistant, or PDA, was effective in prodding sedentary middle-agers into increasing their physical activity levels.

"Portable computer devices are useful because they can be carried around throughout a person's day," study lead researcher Abby King of Stanford University Medical Center in California said in a statement. "Such devices represent one kind of strategy for being able to provide individuals with the help and support they need, in a convenient, real-time context."

Middle-aged people interested in health changes, but with little -- if any -- knowledge of portable computer devices were given a PDA programmed to beep and then ask physical activity questions and track daily activity goals.

One surprise was the participants' positive response to the program's persistence. The PDA users liked the three additional "reminder" beeps.

"The PDAs can really keep on you," King observed."We were surprised by that; we thought by the time they heard the fourth beep, they might find it annoying and not respond at all."