Phone calls prod sedentary to exercise - UPI

Telephone calls from a live U.S. health educator or an automated computer system prodded couch potatoes into a regular 150-minute per week exercise program.

Lead author Abby King of the Stanford Prevention Research Center said the researchers were surprised that the computer calls were almost as effective as the calls by a real person.

"This is the first study to directly compare the efficacy of a physical activity program delivered by a computer (vs.) humans and found them to work similarly well," King said in a statement. "Theoretically, it could be delivered to anybody around the country or around the world, and could save time and money."...