NEW YORK & PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mercer Health and Benefits LLC (“Mercer”) announced today it has formed an alliance with Kurbo Health to provide employers with a proven mobile health coaching and weight loss program created specifically for kids, teens and families. Childhood obesity affects one in three children in the United States1, and its impact on children and their health is clear such as increased risk for heart disease and diabetes. Less well known are the effects of childhood obesity on families and their employers, which include higher health care costs, decreased productivity at work and increased family stress.
With this alliance, Mercer will combine its world-class health benefits consulting capabilities and market reach with Kurbo Health’s platform, which combines ease of a mobile app with the proven science of the Stanford’s Pediatric Weight Control Program to help shape healthy eating and physical activity among children and families. The Mercer/Kurbo alliance will help employers assist employees and their families in reducing childhood obesity, thereby empowering healthier families while also reducing healthcare costs.
“Employers have developed a keen understanding that the family dynamic has a huge influence on the productivity and overall well-being of the employee,” said Mercer’s Dr. David Kaplan, Senior Partner and Leader of its Health Innovation LABS. “Overweight children are 20 times more likely to need medical care, miss an average of 12 days of school, and incur three times higher medical costs2. This directly impacts our clients and their employees through reduced productivity, increased absenteeism and higher medical costs.”
The Kurbo platform consists of three components: an intelligent mobile app that tracks food and activity and provides nutrition and exercise education, a sophisticated automated feedback system facilitating real-time healthy food decisions, and one-to-one support from well-trained coaches who are paired to best suit to the child’s personality and interests.
“Our alliance with Mercer is a major milestone for Kurbo Health that will enable employers to change the trajectory of kids’ lives through our holistic, educational and motivational approach to family weight loss and healthy living,” said Joanna Strober, Founder and CEO of Kurbo Health. “With Kurbo, 88 percent of children reduce their BMI and maintain this reduced BMI 12 months later. We also see that 55 percent of parents lose weight, and more than 80 percent of parents say their family has adopted healthier habits and stress has decreased.”
The Mercer strategic alliance with Kurbo Health represents one of the initial solutions brought to market by Mercer’s Health Innovation LABS team. Mercer remains on the forefront of the evolutionary changes occurring in the healthcare landscape and is committed to evaluating emerging trends and identifying promising solutions. The LABS team engages with innovative companies to accelerate the development of their ideas and test them with forward-thinking employers. Their work helps employers navigate the rapidly changing healthcare environment, launch clinically impactful programs and improve the health of their employees and families.
To learn more, please visit www.kurbohealth.com or www.mercer.com.
About Mercer
Mercer is a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments. Mercer helps clients around the world advance the health, wealth and careers of their most vital asset – their people. Mercer’s more than 20,000 employees are based in 43 countries and the firm operates in over 140 countries. Mercer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE:MMC), a global professional services firm offering clients advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and people. With annual revenue of $13 billion and 60,000 colleagues worldwide, Marsh & McLennan Companies is also the parent company of Marsh, a leader in insurance broking and risk management; Guy Carpenter, a leader in providing risk and reinsurance intermediary services; and Oliver Wyman, a leader in management consulting. For more information, visit www.mercer.com. Follow Mercer on Twitter @Mercer.
About Kurbo Health
Kurbo Health provides the only mobile health-coaching solution designed specifically to help children and families lose weight and develop healthy eating habits. Kurbo’s comprehensive solution includes a mobile app, an easy-to-use traffic light system for tracking food, and 1-1 support from well-trained coaches. The program empowers participants to learn better eating habits, increase their activity levels and take control of their weight. Kurbo licensed the Stanford University pediatric weight control program and turned it into a mobile platform. The result is a high-tech, high-touch program that is achieving exceptional outcomes. Kurbo Health enables employers, health plans, and providers to achieve outstanding weight management outcomes for children and their families. For more information, please visit www.kurbo.com.
1. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm
2. http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/pub/f312aec3-2354-d714-51ef-520ecd67dbfc
3. http://www.nccor.org/downloads/ChildhoodObesity_020509.pdf
