WASHINGTON - Online gamers can be anyone they want, creating avatars to represent themselves in the virtual world. But while the Web abounds with stories of people creating fantasy versions of themselves, researchers have found the shape of many avatars reflect their owners, and those researchers want to know why.

From paying bills to buying clothes, books, and games there's not much we can't do online. But losing weight while sitting in front of the computer is difficult.

New research suggests, however, an online virtual world might help people see themselves as thinner, translating into real-world weight loss.

from surfing a wave --to having *coffee* with a friend, Second Life is meant to let users do online more than the real world allows, with their very own body doubles called avatars.

"It gives you different metaphors," said Jack Whitsitt, a Second Life user. "One group of people are kind of escaping real life, they're trying to get stuff they can't have."

Like many Second Life aficionados, Whitsitt, an artist, spent a lot of time designing his avatar.

"When I really really got serious about it I ended up having somebody help me craft the body" he said. "I actually had somebody take me -- I didn't know there's so much stuff in Second Life -- I actually had somebody take me shopping."

How that online body double looks compared to its real-world owner is what researchers are interested in, especially when it comes to weight.

"That surprised me," Whitsitt admitted.

Researchers at RTI International are studying whether a healthier avatar could mean a healthier you. They've found 80 percent of respondents who reported high levels of physical activity in Second Life, reported the same in their real lives.

And individuals with thinner avatars are more likely to be thinner in real life.

Researchers aren't sure yet which influences the other more.

"It's a complicated relationship," admits Garrison LeMasters, an adjunct professor of culture, communications and technology at Georgetown University.

LeMasters says the results are preliminary, but researchers hope to learn a lot more about the interplay of real world and online personas.

"The hope is that we can see people doing performing certain activities in-world and then replicate those activities in the real world," LeMasters said.

Some companies have already gotten into virtual weight loss, like the Nintendo Wii Fit and WeightView.com, which allows users to build their own avatars and watch them lose weight -- or visualize what they'd look like without those extra pounds.

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