Results of an Academic, Health Care Worksite Weight Loss Contest for Southeastern Americans Scale Back Alabama 2011-2013

Few studies have assessed the effectiveness of competitive incentivized worksite weight loss programs. Scale Back Alabama (SBA) is a free, state-supported program designed to promote weight loss among overweight and obese citizens. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the design and prelimi...

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Published inWorkplace health & safety Vol. 63; no. 4; pp. 165 - 169
Main Authors Breaux-Shropshire, Tonya L., Whitt, Lauren, Oster, Robert A., Lewis, Dwight, Shropshire, Toneyell S., Calhoun, David A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2015
Subjects
Adult
Alabama - epidemiology
Awards and Prizes
Competitive Behavior
Female
Health Promotion - organization & administration
Hospitals, University
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Motivation
Nursing
Universities
Weight Loss
Alabama
health promotion
workforce
program planning and evaluation
health surveillance
disease prevention
occupational health and safety programs
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Summary:Few studies have assessed the effectiveness of competitive incentivized worksite weight loss programs. Scale Back Alabama (SBA) is a free, state-supported program designed to promote weight loss among overweight and obese citizens. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the design and preliminary findings of SBA as a worksite intervention among employees at a collegiate institution and university hospital. In teams of 4 employees, SBA participants volunteered to engage in a 10-week competitive weight loss contest; both teams and individuals who lost significant weight were eligible for randomly drawn cash incentives. Trained staff objectively measured participants’ weight before and at the conclusion of the contest. Preliminary analyses suggest that SBA as a worksite program can promote weight loss among employees, but future analyses are warranted to understand the context of these findings and determine if current results are confounded by unmeasured factors.
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ISSN:2165-0799
2165-0969
DOI:10.1177/2165079915580738