Expert questions sustainability of financial weight loss incentives

An expert has questioned the extent to which financial incentives will be useful in helping people to lose weight in the long run.

The sustainability of schemes which offer people money in order to cut down on their weight has been discussed by the National Obesity Forum’s chair Dr David Haslam.

He stated that people’s motivation “would be better if it was for health reasons, or even cosmetic reasons”.

“For financial reasons, I’m not quite sure that’s best,” he continued.

Consumers might be more motivated to eat well in the long term by the desire to live longer, the expert added.

For people who do want to lose weight, they need to undertake physical exercise and follow a healthy diet, Dr Haslam went on to say.

NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent recently piloted a scheme which aimed to see whether or not people would reduce their weight by being offered monetary incentives.

Would financial incentives inspire you to slim down?