Money incentives can help men lose weight, research shows

Financial incentives of up to £400 in addition to text messages could encourage obese men to lose weight, research has found.

The research, known as “Game of Stones” and presented at the European Congress of Obesity (ECO), involved a year-long trial involving 585 obese men from Belfast, Bristol and Glasgow. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: text messages with financial incentives, text messages only, or the control group. Thirty-nine percent of participants were from a lower socio-economic background, while 40% had two or more long-term health conditions.

Those assigned to the group that received text messages with financial incentives received motivational messages and healthy eating tips. They were also told that £400 would be transferred to them at the end of the trial, but that they would lose money if they did not meet the weight loss target.

Fifty pounds would be taken away if they did not lose 5% of their body weight after three months, £150 if they failed to lose 10% of their weight after six months and £200 if they did not lose the 10% after six months. had kept. a year.

The text message group received the same messages, but without the financial reward.

The study found that the men who received the financial incentives in addition to the text messages lost the most weight, namely 4.8% of their body weight. This compared to a loss of 2.7% for the text messaging group alone, and a loss of 1.3% for the control group.

Prof Pat Hoddinott, from the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Research Unit at the University of Stirling, who led the study, said they hoped the study would be taken up by the NHS, adding that men living with obesity “helped in designing the structure of the incentives and helped us write the text messages”.

Hoddinott added that the research was inspired by “deposit contracts”, where people deposit their own money and lose it if they don’t meet weight loss targets.

“This comes from behavioral economics theory, which states that people are more motivated by the prospect of losing money than by the prospect of gaining money,” she said.

“However, not everyone can afford to contribute their own money, so we designed the Game of Stones trial, which uses a donation incentive, where the money is initially deposited into an account, helping low-income men income can participate.”