Would money or a cash prize help you to lose weight fast?
I ask this because there is a new study out that shows that people wanting to lose weight fast are possibly influenced by the possibility that they could win money if they lost the weight.
Kevin G. Volpp, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School, VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Philadelphia, and colleagues, designed two incentive-based approaches for losing weight.
"In 2004, 71 percent of U.S. adults were overweight or obese according to standard definitions, and at present obesity falls just behind smoking as a preventable cause of premature death,". "Although many variables contribute to the increase in obesity prevalence in the United States, behavioral economics has identified several patterns of behavior that help explain why people engage in self-destructive behavior, including the tendency to put disproportionate emphasis on immediate gratifications, such as the pleasure of eating, relative to the much smaller emphasis put on delayed benefits, such as enjoying good health." The author suggest "new strategies are needed to help reduce the rate of obesity in the U.S. population."
What he suggests in his study is that individuals may be influenced by financial incentives. The conclusion of the study is that incentive approaches based on behavioral economic concepts appear to be highly effective in inducing initial weight loss.
What is your incentive?
What does it take for you to be motivated to lose weight fast?
Leave your comment and let me know what motivates you.
Yours in health,
Jayson Hunter RD, CSCS
America’s Trusted Weight Loss Expert
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