The answer seemingly is yes and no.
According to a study published in the US Journal of General Internal Medicine, people who are obese will readily lose weight if they thought they would lose money. However once this financial inducement stops, they are unlikely to continue.
The study involved participants being given weight loss counselling and diet sheet, with one group asked to sign a ‘deposit contract’ where they agreed to deposit a certain amount of money into an account. The money was matched which the participants would receive if they lost weight. But if they failed to achieve their goal, they lost this financial reward.
The results were quite impressive. The average weight loss was 4.1kilograms.over an 8 month period, compared to a control group with an average of just 0.45kilograms.
Although the financial reward / penalty regime seemed to work a follow up on participants found they had all increased their weight. Leslie John of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who was in charge of the study said: “Financial incentives produced significant weight loss over an eight-month intervention. However, participants regained weight post-intervention.”
The participants in the study were mostly men with a Body Mass Index of 30 to 40. Obesity is determined by having a BMI of 30 and above. The volunteers were randomly assigned to 2 groups.
The deposit contract consisted of 2 parts. Participants could deposit up to $3 per day which was matched by the researchers. At the end of the month if the men had reached their weight loss goal, they could claim the money in the pot. If not, they lost it all.
According to Leslie John fear of loss drove the participants to go for their goals, and although each person regained weight afterwards, the implication is important for real life situations such as health insurance.
Ms John said: “Obesity is hugely costly to insurance companies, so they have financial incentives to look at this.”
But the research also shows that monetary rewards are also very short to medium term incentives. It’s the longer term that matters.