Can money buy trimmer waist? Perhaps at first

NEW YORK - Obese people may be more likely to slim down if they have money riding on their success through financial incentives - but the weight might creep back once the monetary carrot is gone, according to a US study.

A program in which people stood to lose cash if they failed to lose weight appeared to motivate them, but the motivation didn't last, according to the study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

All participants received weight loss counseling, but some also signed a "deposit contract", where the funds they deposited in an account were matched and awarded to them at the end of a certain period of time if they achieved their weight loss goals.