HealthyWage

HealthyWage was founded in 2009 in New York City by former healthcare consultant David Roddenberry and his colleague Jimmy Fleming. The company launched its website later that year at TechCrunch in San Francisco.{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/09/14/tc50-healthywage-pays-you-to-get-in-better-shape |title=TC50: HealthyWage Pays You to Get in Better Shape |author=Wauters, Robin |date=2009-09-14 |website=TechCrunch |accessdate=2010-07-30}} In January 2010, the company became the first in the United States to offer cash weight loss incentives directly to consumers.{{cite news| url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1952309,00.html| title=A New Weight-Loss Plan: Getting Paid to Shed Pounds| date=2010-01-04| magazine=Time| author=Sayre, Carolyn| accessdate=June 24, 2023}}

HealthyWage's first program, the BMI Challenge, paid Americans who moved in one year from an obese BMI to a normal BMI.{{cite news| url=http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Health/Fitness-Exercise/3-Sites-for-Weight-Loss-Motivation.html| title=3 Sites for . . . Weight Loss Motivation| date=2010-02-16| magazine=Woman's Day| author=Ciccone, Alicia| accessdate=2010-08-08| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531073800/http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Health/Fitness-Exercise/3-Sites-for-Weight-Loss-Motivation.html| archivedate=2010-05-31}} The 10% Challenge, which followed later that year, allowed participants to commit $150 and win $300 if they lost 10% of their weight over six months.{{cite news| url=http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/blogs/executive-inbox/2011/11/want-healthier-employees-try-offering-prizes/|title=Want healthier employees? Try offering prizes| date=2011-11-04|newspaper=Crain's New York Business|author=Fisher, Anne|accessdate=2011-11-30}} These two programs have since been consolidated into the HealthyWager in which each participant creates a customized weight loss "bet."

HealthyWage develops programming based on academic and industry research on the impact of financial incentives and social networking on the effectiveness of wellness program outcomes.{{cite web| url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/19/health/cash-family-weight-loss/| title=Family wins $10K after losing 255 pounds| last=Wilson| first=Jacque| date=2013-04-19| website=CNN| access-date=2016-08-30}} HealthyWage programs are available directly to consumers and also through many large employers, including Fortune 500 companies, school districts, state and local governments and other employers.

;HealthyWager

The HealthyWager program allows participants to "bet" on their weight loss. Each participant uses the HealthyWager prize calculator to find out what cash prize HealthyWage will pay based on how much the participant is willing to "wager," how much weight the participant wants to lose, and how much time the participant needs to reach that weight loss goal. Participants who achieve their goal in the agreed timeframe win the prize. The model provides a double incentivization in the form of loss aversion and the opportunity to gain.{{cite news| last1=Aubrey| first1=Allison| title=Place A Bet On Your Weight-Loss Goal, And You May Win Twice| url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/01/15/463071516/place-a-bet-on-your-weight-loss-goal-and-you-may-win-twice| website=Morning Edition| publisher=National Public Radio| accessdate=26 August 2016}}

;Step Challenges

HealthyWage Step Challenges use activity-tracking devices to allow individuals and teams to compete for cash prizes and to increase their physical activity. Participants each pay a fee into the "pot" at the beginning of the challenge. Participants that meet their activity goal by the end of the challenge (typically by increasing their average daily steps by a given percentage) win an equal share of the pot.

;Jackpot Challenges

HealthyWage Jackpot Challenges are weight loss competitions in which individuals and teams (generally 4 to 9 teammates) compete to lose a set percentage of their body weight by the end of the challenge. Each participant pays a fee into the "pot" at the beginning of the challenge. At the end of the challenge, all of the successful participants and/or teams win an equal share of the pot.{{cite web|last1=Cain|first1=Lisa|title=We Can Lose the Weight Before The Holidays Together! Snack Girl Challenge|url=http://snack-girl.com/snack/healthy-wage/|website=Snack Girl|publisher=Lisa Cain|accessdate=26 August 2016}}

;$10,000 Team Challenge

The $10,000 Team Challenge is a weight loss competition in which teams of five use teamwork and tools to lose weight over a period of time (usually 90 days).{{cite news|url=http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/04/30/healthywage-contest-offers-money-for-weight-loss/|title=HealthyWage Contest Offers Money for Weight Loss|author=Johnson, Lisa|date=2010-04-30|work=AOL That's Fit|accessdate=2010-08-08}} HealthyWage pays a large prize to the participants with the greatest percentage weight loss.{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-jenkins-md/the-biggest-loser-one-phy_b_576874.html/|title=The Biggest Loser: One Physician's Perspective|author=Jenkins, Christina|date=2010-05-14|work=HuffPost|accessdate=2010-08-08}} The team wins as a group, so every team member has a stake in every other team member's success.{{cite news| last1=Rosenberg| first1=Tina| title=For Weight Loss, a Recipe of Teamwork and Trust| url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/for-weight-loss-a-recipe-of-teamwork-and-trust/| newspaper=The New York Times| date=15 November 2011| accessdate=30 August 2016| url-access=limited}}

Weight loss and fitness competitions reflect a broader trend in consumer and corporate fitness around using games and money to provide accountability and motivation for health-related activities ranging from weight loss to regular gym use, healthy eating and smoking cessation.Shellenbarger, Sue (2013-01-08). "[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323482504578229613370211112 Office Weight-Loss Contests Rise, Saboteurs and All]". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-02-12. {{subscription required}}{{Cite web |title=Best SARMs Stack For Cutting, Bulking, Mass, Fat Loss and More |url=http://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/588967/best-sarms-stack-for-cutting-bulking-mass-fat-loss-and-more/ |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=Washington City Paper |language=en-US}} A study published in the Journal of the American Medical AssociationVolpe, Kevin G, (2008-12-10). "[http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=183047 Financial-Based Incentives for Weight Loss]" JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. Retrieved 2013-02-12. found that those with a financial incentive to lose weight were almost three times more likely to reach their target than dieters with no money at stake.Hill, Erica (2013-01-04). "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUgpqIndo5A New Trend in Weight Loss: Wager Programs]" Today. Retrieved 2013-02-12.

{{reflist|2}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://jouwlijfstijl.nl/ Anti-aging Care]

Category:American health websites

Category:Internet properties established in 2009

Category:Medical and health organizations based in Florida

Category:Digital marketing companies of the United States