Adolescents with severe obesity who received meal-replacement therapy plus financial incentives experienced a greater reduction in body mass index compared to those who received meal replacement therapy alone, according to recent findings published in JAMA Pediatrics . Justin Ryder, PhD, Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Surgery at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, was a co-author of the study.
Severe obesity currently affects about one in five children and adolescents in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is defined as having a body mass index, or BMI, either at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex.
The condition is associated with an increased risk of adult obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other conditions. Previous research has found that meal replacement therapy (MRT), rather than traditional lifestyle modifications, is more effective in helping reduce BMI in adolescents with severe obesity. In the current study, the investigators sought to determine if MRT paired with financial incentives to adolescents with severe obesity would increase the efficacy of MRT and lead to a greater reduction in BMI, when compared to MRT alone.
There's literature for adults that supports that tying in financial incentives to weight loss or physical activity programs increases adherence, and .