People using the Internet as a guide to getting active were just as successful as those using face-to-face briefings.

That is according to CQU PhD student Rebekah Steele, who compared the approaches via the Health-eSteps program.

Ms Steele found that participants in Health-eSteps experienced an overall increase of 44.2% in terms of meeting the national physical activity guidelines of 150-minutes per week of moderate physical activity (18.8% at baseline increasing to 63% at the end of the program).

“It didn't matter which group people were allocated too ... the Internet group showed increases in physical activity similar to the face-to-face group,” she said.

“People stated they would have preferred the face to face group, however the face to face group had the highest drop out rate (21% versus 14% for the mediated group and only 8% for the Internet).

“This shows that for people who don't like group environments, can not physically get to a group location, or have family and work commitments, they are still able to receive online support and develop the skills necessary to lead a healthy active lifestyle.”.

Ms Steele said that this study found that an online e-health program is effective for providing people with the skills required to increase their physical activity levels.

“Despite the paradox of sitting on your butt using the Internet (a sedentary activity) - people can still use the internet to get active!”.

Ms Steele said her study was the first randomised control trial (study) that has compared the effectiveness of internet versus face-to-face program delivery.

“This is important in the context that more and more people are going online for health information - exercise, nutrition, medical info etc,” she said.