What Works to Promote Employee Health

  Kevin Volpp was featured on Fox 29 news where he discussed ways companies give incentives to employees to lose weight, stop smoking and get healthier. “I don’t think it’s so much a question of people being lazy,” says Volpp. “It’s more that we as humans are wired to favor immediate gratification versus delayed benefits, so when you’re talking about smoking or you’re talking about weight loss, this really works against us because any single indulgence–a chocolate cookie or an ice cream cone–won’t really hurt our long-term health, and I can rationalize that to myself today, but the problem is I can also rationalize that to myself tomorrow and the day after”.