(December 11, 2008 - Insidermedicine) Money provides an effective incentive for losing weight, at least in the short term, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Obesity increases the risk for developing several conditions including:

•    Coronary heart disease or stroke

•    Type 2 diabetes

•    Cancers, including endometrial, breast, and colon cancers

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania assigned 57 obese adults to one of three weight loss plans. The first involved monthly weigh-ins. The other plans included financial incentives. One paid for weight lost with a lottery system while the other used a deposit contract plan where money invested was matched by the researchers. The participants did not receive any money unless they reached a weight loss goal of 1 lb per week for 16 weeks.

Those in the lottery group won an average of $272.80, and those in the deposit contract group earned an average of $378.49. The lottery group lost an average of 13 lb, the deposit contract group lost a an average of 14 lb, while the weigh-in group lost an average of only 4 lbs. About half of those in each financial incentive group met their weight loss goal of 16 lbs, compared with only 10.5% in the weigh-in group.

We had a chance to speak with Dr. George Loewenstein, one of the investigators of this study, who offered some further insight.

Today’s research demonstrates that financial incentive can induce people to lose weight in the short term, although it’s less clear that the weight loss benefits will be maintained in the long term.

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Allison Chow.