Implementing an Online Weight-Management Intervention to an Employee Population: Initial Experience with Real Appeal

Given the disease burden and economic costs of obesity in the United States, scalable approaches to weight loss and weight management are needed. This study evaluated self-reported weight-loss outcomes associated with a commercial intensive lifestyle intervention marketed to employers and delivered electronically to employees.

Data were collected for participants who enrolled in an online intensive lifestyle intervention weight-loss program from July 2015 through June 2016. An intent-to-treat analysis of participants who attended at least one session is reported.

Ninety-six companies, with approximately 437,215 eligible adult beneficiaries, launched Real Appeal in July 2015. In the first 12 months of the program, 69,598 adults enrolled and 87% met at-risk criteria for prediabetes, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease. The intent-to-treat cohort (n = 52,461), all of whom attended at least one session, lost an average of 2.8% body weight, with 23% achieving 5% or more weight loss. Active participants (n = 38,836) lost an average of 3.5% body weight, with 29% achieving 5% weight loss. Program completers (n = 27,164) lost an average of 4.3% body weight, with 36% of the cohort achieving 5% weight loss.

This study demonstrated that an employer-offered, online, behavioral weight-loss program was an effective, scalable solution for engaging more than 50,000 participants with overweight and obesity.