How Can Fantasy Football Create Healthier Lifestyles?

A friend recently told me about a Biggest Loser-type challenge that he started with his family. They were inspired by his father, who recently had heart issues, and saw this as a way to collectively support his new health routine. Although it was spawned by an unfavorable situation, this is a great example of how group challenges can be used to change behavior:

1) Rallying Cause: Experiencing a powerful event or situation can provide the catalyst to start and maintain a healthier routine. In addition to triggering the new behavior, this story can help publicize the cause and reinforce the goal, similar to people who shave their head in solidarity with a cancer-stricken family member. Unfortunately, the majority of these triggers are negative events – are there positive motivators that can create the same sense of urgency?

2) Competition: Adding competitive elements keeps people motivated to stay on course and outperform. As much as I hate recent gamefacation trends, these social motivators can be valuable as long as the goals remain realistic and no one person gets too far ahead or behind to be a disincentive

3) Measurement: Like the Biggest Loser, my friend’s challenge is measured using weight loss. Having an easily quantifiable goal gives each of the participants a simple way to gauge their progress

The bigger question is how to scale these types of challenges up. The most successful model could be to align people with similar goals into small group challenges. A fantasy football model could work – a person can join a private or public challenge that is moderated by an individual, who puts various rules and tracking metrics in place. Tracking could be done by the individual or integrated with other existing apps (e.g., Nike+, Runkeeper) based on the challenge, and could include a reward system (e.g., Nexercise app). The best example of this model currently in development is Keas, a social health and wellness network, which is a little broader and primarily aligned with employers and employees.