News

Kiosks reward Coloradans for weight loss

May 3, 2011

Colorado's largest nonprofit health plan, Kaiser Permanente, has launched a kiosk program in metro Denver to reward people with cash incentives for achieving healthier lifestyles.

According to a company press release, Weigh and Win is a partnership between Kaiser Permanente and incentaHEALTH and is the nation's first community-wide program offering cash rewards and prizes to individuals who achieve or maintain a healthy weight.

How it works

• Weigh and Win is free to all Coloradans ages 18 and over.
• Individuals who sign up for the program will participate in quarterly photographed weigh-ins at the kiosks and receive cash incentives for positive results.
• Participants will also have access to a variety of online coaching tools to help them reach their goals.

"We know that being overweight or obese has serious health consequences," Jandel Allen-Davis, Kaiser Permanente vice president of Government and External Relations, said in the press release. "It not only increases the risk for chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, but there's also a tremendous cost to our communities.

Community partners and local retailers are supporting and promoting the program by providing prizes, said the release.

While this is the first time the program has been applied to a community at large, similar initiativeshave achieved notable results in workplace settings. In corporate deployments of the incentaHEALTH program, the average employee loses 6 percent body weight, (12 pounds for a 200 pound person) and 40 percent of participants stay in the program for one year.

"The combination of our patented HEALTHspot kiosk, weight loss incentives, and daily handholding via email and text messaging gets the job done," incentaHEALTH Chief Technology Officer and co-founder Todd McGuire said in the press release.

Commerce City, Colo., Mayor Paul Natale said there is an urgent need for community-based programs that address the growing obesity crisis in Colorado. While Colorado has long been known as the "leanest" state, obesity rates are climbing faster than the national average. Currently, more than 55 percent of Colorado adults are overweight or obese.