A new study suggests social media can play a significant role in healthy living.

Parcel delivery and courier services firm have long been aware that social media is good for their business health.

Now it seems that adding a social element to an online fitness programme is more likely to improve the health of its participants' .

Scientists from the University of Michigan Medical School found that adding an interactive online community to an internet-based walking programme significantly reduced the number of dropouts.

Over a 16-week programme, 79 per cent of participants who used online forums stuck with the project, while for using not using social tools, the figure was just 66 per cent.

Professor Caroline Richardson, who led the study, said: "Brick by brick we have been building a model of how to change health behaviours using online tools

"We can see that social components can help to mitigate the big downside that internet-mediated programs have had in the past, namely attrition."

Research firm IDC said this week that social media will be at the heart of the major technology trends next year.

Posted by Tom Sands 

Article Added: 08/12/2010 09:12:18