Should Financial Incentives be Used to Encourage People to Lose Weight?

The issue of obesity is one that has been perplexing governments across the globe for a considerable period of time, as people continue to get heavier. The trouble is that being overweight can lead to health problems that force individuals to use health services and which may prevent them from working, and thus contributing to the economy through taxation. Clearly, if the majority of a population is overweight, then a great deal of pressure is placed on health services and this costs money, which is why politicians and health officials have been considering ways to encourage people to address their weight.

The idea is to encourage people to lose weight before they start developing serious health problems and gain so much weight that it is going to take a long time to get back to a healthier size. Of course, preventative measures cost money, too, but it is believed that by encouraging people to lose weight sooner rather than later, money and lives will be saved in the long run. Surely, nobody wants to be fat, so why is it so difficult to get people to lose weight? Well, for a start, losing weight isn’t easy. It takes patience and commitment, which are qualities that not everyone possesses. Plus, people’s lifestyles, today, can make weight loss even more trying. Individuals are working long, stressful hours and relying on convenience meals, fast food, and high-calorie snacks for sustenance.

Unfortunately, to lose weight you have to control your calorie intake and balance it out against your estimated calorie expenditure. If you lead an active lifestyle, you can get away with consuming more calories, but most people don’t. Consequently, if you’re overweight and trying to lose a few pounds, you have to change your eating and exercise habits, but it is difficult to change the way you do things, because everyone has a tendency to stick to what they’re familiar with. So, would financial incentives really encourage people to lose weight? Although there may be some people who are not bothered about being overweight, most people in that situation would prefer to be slim, but just find it such a challenge that they ignore it for as long as possible.

It is therefore difficult to see how offering financial incentives would get people to lose weight in the long run. Of course, in the beginning, the possibility of earning cash for losing weight might encourage people to address their weight. It seems like an easy way to earn money and there is nothing to lose, so why not give it a try? When you’re losing weight at the start and given some kind of financial reward, it is less of a struggle to find the motivation. In the long run, though, you have to want to lose weight for your own sake, not just because you can earn money. There won’t always be a financial incentive there for you to control your weight and so offering cash to encourage people to lose weight is hardly likely to have much impact on obesity rates.