Staff weight-loss incentives fail in US

PAYING American adults to lose weight did not work.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, allows American companies to use up to 30% of the medical aid premiums they pay for staff as incentives to reward healthy behaviour.

But a study published yesterday showed that none of the 197 people recruited for the study had lost any weight a year later.

Staff were randomised into dif- ferent groups, one that earned nothing for losing weight and others that could reduce their medical aid premiums or, if successful, enter a lottery in which a winner would earn prize money.

Participants had to lose 5% of their body weight over a year.

The study was conducted by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and published in Health Affairs.

“Though participants in our study didn’t experience significant weight loss, that doesn’t mean all incentive programmes are ineffective,” Penn Centre for Health Care Innovation director David Asch said.

In South Africa, the Discovery Vitality programme rewards members for healthy behaviour, buying vegetables and exercising regularly, with discounts.

Discovery Health says participants who are active in the rewards programme tend to have lower health expenditure and shorter hospital stays.