The Wellness Challenge Landscape
Wellness challenges are structured competitions or group activities designed to encourage healthy behaviors. Common formats include step challenges (tracking daily steps), nutrition challenges (healthy eating goals), sleep challenges (improving sleep habits), and stress management challenges. Challenges are typically 4–8 weeks long and include social features like team competition and leaderboards.
The Engagement vs. Outcomes Tradeoff
Wellness challenges drive engagement — employees enjoy the social competition and the sense of accomplishment. But they rarely produce lasting behavior change. Studies show that behavior changes from wellness challenges typically revert to baseline within 3–6 months after the challenge ends. Challenges are valuable for engagement and culture — but should not be the primary strategy for improving health outcomes.
Inclusive Challenge Design
Pro Tip
Wellness challenges that are designed only for the already-healthy — step challenges that require 10,000 steps/day, nutrition challenges that assume access to healthy food — exclude the employees who need wellness support most. Design challenges that are inclusive: allow employees to set their own goals, provide modifications for employees with physical limitations, and celebrate improvement rather than absolute performance.