MyFitness Planner Really Moves You( Dairy Council of California's Free On...),Health

Dairy Council of California's Free Online Tool Increases Physical Activity

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New research suggests that a healthier, more physically active lifestyle is just a few clicks away with Dairy Council of California's MyFitness Planner.

Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer, yet less than half of all American women (47.7 percent) engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity or greater physical activity on most days of the week. To help, Dairy Council of California developed MyFitness Planner, formerly called the Women's Fitness Planner.

A randomized control trial of 150 healthy adult women showed that MyFitness Planner's individually tailored Internet-plus-email physical activity intervention resulted in 37 minutes of increased walking and 48 minutes of increased total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week compared to a control group. Study results were published in the December issue of Preventive Medicine.

A study led by Genevieve Fridlund Dunton, Ph.D., M.P.H., a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, indicated that Dairy Council of California's online tool can positively impact women's physical activity levels. Results further showed that participants who clicked more links in the update emails trended toward greater activity by 10-20 minutes per week, regardless of socio-economic or education status.

MyFitness Planner produces individualized physical activity feedback based on an online assessment. Participants receive weekly follow-up email newsletters to support the information on the website and encourage further learning. Full study results are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.10.004.

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