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FitFeud Corporate Wellness Blog
Why "Biggest Loser" Programs Don't Work: A Rebuttal
The following was originally posted as a comment to Tamara Melton's blog post, Why "Biggest Loser" Wellness Programs Don't Work.
My name is Nicholas Tolson, and I am CEO and co-founder of FitFeud, a web-based system that helps companies set up, run, and track the effectiveness of fitness and weight loss competitions amongst their employees. So, take my comments with however many grains of salt you like. ;)
Many of the concerns you reference are what I would call common misconceptions about corporate weight loss competitions. They are things that one might think would happen, but in our experience, with thousands of people having participated, don't actually happen in practice.
It also seems as though your arguments are based on implementing a weight loss competition in isolation, as the only aspect of a corporate wellness program. This is not something we recommend, nor it is something we see our clients doing. (We typically work with large corporations, with thousands or tens of thousands of employees, FWIW.)
As part of a comprehensive wellness program, with supporting efforts in education, exercise, healthy meals, biometric screening, etc. weight loss competitions are a powerful tool to jumpstart a corporate wellness program and motivate employees. In fact, because they are fun, employee-focused, and results-oriented (things commonly missing from corporate wellness programs) weight loss competitions can actually increase participation in your other programs and engage employees who may otherwise not have participated in such programs at all.
We also counsel our clients to keep prizes very small, if they use them at all, precisely so the motivation is coming from the right place. (We are students of Robert Cialdini and his research on motivation.)
Also, you are singling out weight loss competitions and ignoring that you can implement competitions, which provide much-needed motivation, based on other things. Compete on # of pushups, or # of steps (very common), or exercise minutes, or even # of salads or fruits eaten. We like to say, if you can count it you can compete on it.
Indeed, the TV show reflects unrealistic and often dangerous weight loss behaviors. In the real world, however, people are participating in weight loss competitions for the right reasons and aren't endangering themselves. And corporations sponsoring these competitions are wisely offering supporting programs before, during, and after the competitions to encourage the long-term health of their employees.
Competitions are a push, a jumpstart to a lifelong effort, not the end-all be-all of weight loss and healthy living. They are for people that like a little more kick in the butt than a pat on the back, we like to say. In the end, I believe weight loss and fitness competitions, when run properly, be the very definition of healthy competition.
Comments
Tamara Melton | May 20, 2011 @ 4:24 PM
Thank you for your feedback and viewpoint, Nicholas. I agree with the majority of your post, so actually don’t view your comments as a rebuttal, but instead more evidence that these types of programs don’t work in the long run. First, where I agree: yes, this post is referring only to Biggest Loser contests that are used in isolation. Here at LaCarte, we often work with clients who are frustrated when their Biggest Loser contests start losing steam, and employees become uninterested or, worse yet, jaded toward that type of program (and the managers or departments implementing the programs).
As you do with your clients, we encourage our clients to implement a comprehensive wellness program strategy- which may include competitions, but begins with an exhaustive needs assessment, and the development of benchmarks, objectives and goals. We encourage them to survey their employees to see what support the employees need to get and stay healthier. We also look at the company’s aggregate data related to healthcare costs, as well as other pre-program surveys and assessments. We then work to design programs that often include an element of competition. The former work is certainly not as exciting as a competition, but it helps the client to choose a program design that is a right fit for their employees, and more likely to be effective and sustainable. Biggest Loser contests aren’t appropriate for employees who are at a normal and healthy weight, but who may actually be sedentary, eating an unbalanced diet or who are chronically stressed. Contests such as the ones you described above that measure physical activity, diet habits or other health behaviors are much more inclusive of all employees.
Where I do disagree: competitions can motivate employees to maintain health behaviors for the long-term. At LaCarte, we are students of Dr. Gary Foster of Temple University, and the former president of the Obesity Society. Dr. Foster encourages health practitioners to realize that we cannot motivate our clients- they must be intrinsically motivated to maintain healthy habits for the rest of their lives. This intrinsic motivation includes learning coping skills when confronted with barriers to change, or learning to reward oneself in a healthy way when the incentives are no longer available, no matter how big or small those incentives are (though I also agree with your comments- smaller is better!). Somewhere along the line, successful program participants stop being motivated by the “carrot” of an incentive, or the glory of winning a competition, and start being motivated by the thought of improved health and quality of life. This is a beautiful phenomenon- I call it a phenomenon, because it a rare sight to witness. We are more likely see this phenomenon when we in the wellness world do our work and combine programs like FitFeud with behavior modification techniques. Competitions get them in the door, so it is a critical and important component. If we can’t get the in the door, then the behavior modification work would never happen.
Tamara
Nicholas | May 20, 2011 @ 5:22 PM
Thanks for the great response! And indeed, it seems we are mostly in agreement.
The key point, which you make at the end of your comment above, is:
“Competitions get them in the door, so it is a critical and important component. If we can’t get the in the door, then the behavior modification work would never happen.”
Ben | Jun 16, 2011 @ 2:39 AM
Dear Nicholas,
Thank you for FitFeud, it was exactly what I needed to jumpstart me into getting healthy. As an athlete in my teens, I could eat whatever I wanted and it wouldn’t hurt much. Not so in my early 20’s when I put on more than 100 lbs over the following 5 years. At 25 and just north of 350 lbs, I needed help.
Insert my large company and FitFeud. I had the tools and knew what I needed to do, I just had to do it. FitFeud allowed my company to track the competitors. I lost 50 lbs during the 12 week competition and have continued even after our corporate competition. I’m now down 82 lbs and feeling great!!! I just wish my company was extending so that I would still have access to the check-ins.
Thank you FitFeud!
Thank