HispanicBusiness

NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 01/03/13 -- With the glut of U.S. workers contending with obesity and other chronic health troubles costing more than $153 billion annually in lost productivity from absenteeism, coupled with even more staggering productivity loss from the four-times more detrimental "Presenteeism," it's no wonder Corporate America has turned to innovative, outside-the-box competition-driven weight loss programs to better incent employee groups to battle the bulge, realize greater success with their diet and fitness endeavor, and win financial rewards in kind. Accordingly, HealthyWage.com, the industry-leading purveyor of financial incentive-based weight loss programs and contests for both businesses and individuals, today announced exponential client roster growth among companies, hospitals, health systems, insurers, school systems, municipal governments and other organizations, including Office Depot, Zales, 7-Eleven and others as listed below, that are successfully leveraging the spirit of competition and cash rewards to improve staff wellness, more effectively compel men to lose weight, and, in promoting these organization-wide behavioral changes, boost their own bottom lines.

"To date, HealthyWage.com has executed its popular $10,000 Team Weight Loss Challenge and/or other of its novel 'money motivation' diet and fitness programs, each as described below, for over 400 client organizations throughout the United States collectively employing more than one million employees," said David Roddenberry, CEO of HealthyWage.com. "This past year alone we've seen a surge in businesses, healthcare companies and school districts seeking to offer weight loss programs that will better engage and excite the staff and, ultimately, more successfully achieve health and overriding fiscal program goals. But, that's no surprise given multiple highly credible studies underscore the value of employing financial incentives and peer support to motivate weight loss. Our various tailored monetary incentive and team-based weight loss programs are helping employee groups get fit and healthy using a unique and proven effective motivation paradigm while concurrently helping organizations significantly stem staff health-related losses."

The following companies and organizations, among over 400 others, have participated in HealthyWage programs:

Corporate:

•Zales •Office Depot •7-Eleven •Phillips 66 •Joy Global

Healthcare - Eight of the largest twenty-five health systems in the United States including:

•Novant Health •Dignity Health •Continuum Health Partners

Education - Thirteen of the fifty largest School Districts in the United States, including:

•Houston, TX •Memphis, TN •Duval County, FL •Many public and private Universities

Roddenberry notes, "The success of the incentive-driven weight loss approach is exemplified by the experience of Kay and Rick Woolen, a married couple who participated in HealthyWage programs through their employer, Wake Forrest Baptist Medical Center. They lost more than a combined 130 pounds in 2012 and won more than $6,000 cash for their effort!"