Doctors' Web site offers connections for fun and exercise

Social networks influence weight, and this physician-created effort aims to eliminate one excuse for a sedentary lifestyle.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Oct. 22/29, 2007.

Kevin Robertson, DO, and Philip O'Halloran, MD, were on the Utah slopes a few years ago hoping to cross paths with other skiers when an idea occurred to them. It would be useful to have a Web site linking people who participate in various physical activities, such as skiing. In turn, this network could help people become more physically active and try out new activities. As an added benefit, it might help eliminate at least one excuse -- not having an activity partner -- that so many patients had given them for not getting off the couch.

"We want to take that excuse away," said Dr. O'Halloran, a staff emergency physician at St. John Health in Warren, Mich.

Dr. Robertson and Dr. O'Halloran have been friends since their residencies years ago, and both participate in a wide array of sports, including running, swimming, mountain biking and martial arts. They decided to create a Web site (www.funspotpals.com) for people who already are physically active, like them, and want to meet others. The site also is for those who want to become more active and for whom having a partner might make it more likely that they will stay that way.

"We think there are more people like us out there who dabble in many different sports," Dr. O'Halloran said.