New research shows that there may be a way to make quitting or dieting more successful: cash. A study in the December issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who had financial incentives to lose weight were much more successful at dieting than those who did not … An increasing number of dieters are entering formal wagers with friends or co-workers to bet on weight loss goals. Read the full article.

It was an eight-player example of a diet bet, in which those seeking to lose pounds give themselves a new incentive: money. If they don't lose more weight than the competition, they lose cash. Internet sites that facilitate diet betting have seen an increase in traffic, and recent studies have supported what Mr. Ee and his co-workers discovered: diet bets work for many people who couldn't seem to shed pounds any other way. Read the full article.