Pay Obese People to Lose Weight, Researchers Urge

Researchers have suggested cash could be used to incentivise people to lose weight after a study found a reward of £400, together with daily texts, was successful in helping obese men slim down. Academics claimed this approach could be cost effective because obesity is a huge strain on the NHS, costing an estimated £6.5 billion annually. A year-long government funded study, led by the University of Stirling and known as the Game of Stones, included 585 men from Bristol, Belfast, and Glasgow with an average body mass index of 37.7, placing them in the “obese” category. The men were split into three groups, with one cohort told that £400 was being held for each of them in an account and would be transferred over at the end of the trial if they met their weight loss goal, but money would be deducted if they failed to meet their targets....