The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo., Barry Noreen column [The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo.]

Dec. 31--In a perfect world, good health would be its own reward. But we don't live in a perfect world.

Many people, including a 182-pound columnist who should weigh about 175, resolve to lose weight when the new year rolls around. Kaiser Permanente Colorado has begun a new program, "Weigh and Win," which provides cash incentives to people to lose weight and keep it off.

Kaiser Permanente's offer extends to people who are not subscribers to its insurance. It's a way for the company to get its name out there, but it shouldn't be seen as just another ploy from the corporate world.

Being overweight directly leads to a host of other maladies. By itself it's the biggest public health challenge we face, so we should applaud programs that can make a real difference.

The 8,900 people who have signed up for Weigh and Win lost an average of 12 pounds apiece. Depending upon individual success, participants can earn from $15 to $150 every three months.

"This is a program that incentivises people," said Corina Lindley, Kaiser Permanente's senior manager for community health. "It's measurable."

Kaiser Permanente would like to increase its market share, because that's what companies do.

But there is a bigger theme here.

"How do we make our state healthier?" Lindley asked rhetorically. "We can't hire chefs and personal trainers, but we can do this."

If you're, say, leaning on 60, still climbing 14ers, haven't called in sick for two years and never smoked cigarettes, (not naming names here) you might think you're entitled to a lower health insurance premium than some other 59-year-old who smokes, never gets exercise and devotes himself to cream pies.

Truth is, it's hard for insurance companies to factor everything in. Life choices make a difference in one's health, but genetics play a role and sometimes people can be unlucky, getting into accidents that leave them with chronic problems.

The point of the Kaiser Permanente program is not to pay people forever to keep the weight off, but to help them change their behavior. Ultimately, the goal is for more people to see good health as its own reward.

Changing those attitudes can't happen overnight, but there is evidence to suggest it is not hopeless.

Two California university researchers, Gary Charness and Uri Gneezy, concluded, "Our own work suggests that it is possible to pay people to go to the gym and exercise; if this is done in the right way, people appear to develop the habit of exercising and continue to do so after payment has ceased."

So happy new year. Keep that weight off if that is your goal. And cut that old guy on the trail some slack -- he's waddling as fast as he can.

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Listen to Barry Noreen on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM and 1240 AM at 6:35 a.m. on Fridays and read his blog updates at gazette.com/blogs/barrysblog

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