Applying Behavioral Economics to Changing Health Behavior

The Case of Weight-Loss Management

  • Shahram Heshmat University of Illinois at Springfield

Abstract

Despite documented short-term success, dieting has a very low success rates, most dieters regain their weight back within three to five years (IOM, 2003). Relapse, temporary loss of control, and return to old behavior is common in dieting. This paper presents some insights from a behavioral economics perspective to explain why people fail to stick to their goal for eating healthy diet in order to lose weight. Knowing why people fail to maintain a desired healthy behavior over time will go some way towards avoiding relapse. Know the why makes it much easier to handle the how when we need to. A better understanding of changing preferences could also shed light on the proper role of health promotion policy. Behavioral economics identifies a number of circumstances in which people seem to behave inconsistently. Identifying these conditions provide an understanding of what factors make it harder for dieters to resist attractive food, and will help dieters to resist temptation. A recent review of studies on the effectiveness of weight-maintenance strategies conclude that programs that incorporate continued skills in problem solving and coping with challenges, and techniques for sustaining behavior change lower the rate of relapse (IOM, 2004). The research summarized in this paper can be seen in the light of this overall goal.
Published
2006-12-01
How to Cite
Heshmat, S. (2006). Applying Behavioral Economics to Changing Health Behavior: The Case of Weight-Loss Management. Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 4(4), 21-29. https://doi.org/10.32398/cjhp.v4i4.1983