Obesity is related to high health care costs and lost productivity in the workplace. Employers are increasingly sponsoring weight loss and wellness programs to ameliorate these costs. We evaluated weight loss outcomes, treatment utilization, and health behavior change in a low intensity phone- and web-based, employer-sponsored weight loss program. The intervention included three proactive counseling phone calls with a registered dietician and a behavioral health coach as well as a comprehensive website. At six months, one third of those who responded to the follow-up survey had lost a clinically significant amount of weight (≥5% of body weight). Clinically significant weight loss was predicted by the use of both the counseling calls and the website. When examining specific features of the web site, the weight tracking tool was the most predictive of weight loss. Health behavior changes such as eating more fruits and vegetables, increasing physical activity, and reducing stress were all predictive of clinically significant weight loss. Although limited by the low follow-up rate, this evaluation suggests that even low intensity weight loss programs can lead to clinical weight loss for a significant number of participants. 1. Introduction Obesity affects over one third of the US population [1], and obesity-associated health conditions result in excess economic costs of $147 billion per year in the United States [2]. In addition to direct healthcare costs from obesity, current estimates of financial losses due to obesity-related absenteeism and presenteeism (low productivity while on the job) are currently in the range of $73 billion annually [3]. Projections from a recent report [4] indicate that by 2030 medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases could increase by $48–$66 billion per year, and the loss in economic productivity could be between $390 and $580 billion annually. Health problems related to obesity include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, kidney disease, strokes, osteoarthritis, and sleep apnea. Furthermore, obese individuals suffer from stigma, which leads to decreased quality of life [5] and healthcare disparities, resulting in, for example, fewer cancer screenings [6]. With even a modest weight loss of 5% of body weight, quality of life can improve, many health conditions can be prevented or ameliorated, and healthcare and productivity costs can be contained [4, 7, 8]. Behavioral treatment for obesity, including monitoring weight and food, caloric restriction, and increased physical
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