Want those workers to lose weight? Well pay them!

Want those workers to lose weight? Well pay them!: "Want those workers to lose weight? Well pay them! Medical Studies/Trials Published: Wednesday, 12-Sep-2007 Print - Want those workers to lose weight? Well pay them! Printer Friendly Email - Want those workers to lose weight? Well pay them! Email to a Friend American researchers have found that employers who want their workers to lose weight should pay them to do so! It seems giving money to overweight workers is the best incentive to make them lose weight and is in the long term a cost-effective exercise. Dr. Eric Finkelstein of the non-profit research organization RTI International in North Carolina and a team of researchers found people paid to slim down lost more weight than employees who had not been given a financial boost to get fit. For the study the researchers divided 207 people, who had an average weight of 200 pounds (91 kilograms), into three groups to compare their weight loss. One group were not offered any financial incentive to slim down; the second group received $7 for every percentage point of their body weight they lost, while the third group were offered $14. Dr. Finkelstein says after three months people in the $14 group lost an average 4.7 pounds, compared to three pounds in the $7 group while those who had not been paid lost about two"