A new study shows that ongoing weight-loss programs in the workplace can help employees keep weight off, improving their overall health.

One of the ongoing debates in the area of workplace wellness is whether wellness programs offer true return-on-investment. In the area of weight-loss programs, concerns often center around whether weight loss can be maintained, or whether it's temporary, along with associated health improvements.

The latest study, entitled "The Efficacy of Repeated Corporate Sponsored Commercial Weight Loss Programming," published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, offers some good news for corporate wellness programs. Overall, the study found that employer-based wellness programs can help employees lose weight and keep it off on a long-term basis, when workers are offered repeat or on-going access to workplace weight loss programs.

More than 10,000 participants

The study was a large one, with 11,825 participants from two government employers. The researchers used a commercially available weight loss course, from the Dallas-based company Naturally Slim, as its model. The Naturally Slim program consists of 10 weekly classes, followed by 7 bi- weekly and 6 monthly maintenance classes for a total of 52 weeks. In addition to workplace classes, the program has a strong online element, including mobile apps. The participants can take follow-up classes to refresh their skills at their own discretion.

The findings showed that the employees on the program lost weight the first time they completed it, but on average, experienced some weight regain after completing the program. When employees chose to participate in the program again, they lost more weight, leading to an average long-term weight loss of approximately 4.5 percent of their initial body weight.

An ongoing solution to a long-term challenge

The report acknowledges the difficulty of keeping weight off for those participating in traditional weight loss programs. "While intervention strategies have the potential to impact weight initially, many experience regain, and are unable to maintain their lost weight," the study said. "The workplace offers a unique opportunity to examine the availability of continual access to programming as a means of behavioral reinforcement accompanying efforts to promote weight loss amongst employees."

The study had some limitations, the report noted, for example it lacked a control group and relied on self-reported risk factors, but the researchers said the results matched similar studies. One interesting finding was that when a subset of participants was offered financial incentives for maintaining weight loss, the data showed no significant effect in keeping weight off.

Overall, the study said, weight loss and the health improvements associated with it can be maintained by employees who can continue to access programs over time. "Our analysis demonstrates that a commercial, web-based, worksite course that targets weight loss is effective in reducing weight when employees are given continued access to the course," the report said. The researchers concluded that the weight loss program in the study was clinically beneficial to employees.

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Employee weight loss programs effective over the long term, new study suggests

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