Wouldn’t weight loss be easier if you were getting paid for it? Well, now you can. HealthyWage.com, which launched last October, is offering members up to $1,000 for improving their health by shedding some pounds. The company’s website states that they are, “a sponsor-funded company that rewards long-term changes in behavior that lead to improved health.” Their aim is to empower people not only to get healthy, but also to have a better understanding of their health so that they can stay healthy.
But, is this really viable? Isn’t personal incentive enough? Turns out, dieters who had a financial incentive to lose weight were nearly five times more likely to meet their goals compared with dieters who had no financial reward (from a 2008 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and available on HealthyWage.com). And HealthyWage is handing out more than just cash, each member gets a personalized wellness plan, helpful tips and gets connected to a social support network of people who have similar weight loss goals. HealthyWage is free, so users have nothing to lose (except some pounds) and a lot more than money to gain. But, what do you think? Do you think money is a good weight loss incentive and how effective do you think you’d be at keeping the weight off if you were to follow an online program?
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Hmmm… normally I’d dismiss this as some ‘lose weight quick” scheme, but the idea that they claim to help with long-term behavior change is interesting. I guess because it actually involves education rather than chemical supplements?