Moving for Money

Would you be willing to run around the block each morning in exchange for a free cappuccino or a free ride on the metro? Rewarding people with money increases motivation to exercise, finds a recently published study in Annals of Internal Medicine. During a 13-week intervention, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania managed to motivate their employees to take no less than 7000 steps a day!

Figure 1. Illustration by Iván López Núñez (for Homo Sociabilis)

The shape of the future

What will your future hold?

            Will you be rich?

            Where will you live?

            What will your house look like?

            Will you have (grand-) children?

            And… Will you be obese?

Figure 1: Gain-Fantasy trade by BrokenCassette (http://brokencassette.deviantart.com/art/Gain-Fantasy-trade-200018366)

The many faces of the Fat Tax

Source: National Cancer Institute

The world is getting too fat. In the United States obesity and overweight affect a shocking 68% of people, of which half meet the criteria to be labeled obese. In Belgium obesity levels are also becoming a problem, as both 41% of men and women are ranked as overweight and/or obese (Eurostat, 2011).