Transforming Corporate Health: Fitterfly's Success in Tackling Diabetes and Weight Issues

Fitterfly's tailored digital therapeutic programs yield substantial health improvements, significantly cutting down annual healthcare expenditure and boosting employee productivity

MUMBAI, India, Jan. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Diabetes and weight issues in corporate employees lead to decreased productivity and higher healthcare costs. According to a study¹, the average annual expenditure on Type 2 diabetes in India amounts to around INR 14,000 and over INR 3,50,000 over a lifetime. A study² even attributes a 4% productivity loss to these health issues, highlighting the need for effective diabetes and weight management in the workplace.

While corporate wellness plans have been offered by employers for a long time, the focus has been primarily around giving access to quality care in the form of consultations, insurance or annual checkups. None of these have shown great adoption or outcomes. To change this scenario, Fitterfly launched digital therapeutic programs as pilot programs with 400 employees from five large corporate groups in January 2023. The primary focus was delivering health outcomes using technology and coaching for diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia and PCOS, metabolic health issues which plague today's workforce.

Before the initiation of Fitterfly's programs, the medical history and health status of the participating employees presented several challenges. A substantial number of participants struggled with conditions such as hypertension (21%), heart disease (3%), and dyslipidemia (19%). Additionally, many faced issues with blood sugar levels, with 49% of participants having high fasting blood sugar, and 38% experiencing high post-meal blood sugar levels. These pre-existing conditions highlighted the urgent need for effective health intervention in the corporate sector.

In the Diabetes programs delivered via Fitterfly App, personalised diet, fitness, stress and sleep management plans were shared with the employees based on several scientific assessments. Besides automated nudging & tracking systems, dedicated coaches handheld the employees and kept them on track to achieve health outcomes.

Notably, 88% of participants experienced a 1.1 point reduction in HbA1c levels, indicating better diabetes management, an impact which is equivalent to a two-drug diabetes therapy. Nutritional changes were also significant, with a 30% reduction in calorie intake, a 36% reduction in carbohydrates, and a 29% reduction in fats. Moreover, the intake of dietary fibre improved considerably, with the percentage of members consuming adequate fibre rising from 89% to 97%.

Weight management showed positive outcomes, at the beginning of the program, 30% of participants were categorised as overweight, 40% as obese, and 25% as severely obese. At the end of the program, 85% of employees achieved an average weight loss of around 3.5 kg.

The outcomes of the program extended to fitness and mental wellbeing also highlighting the comprehensive support from the Fitterfly program. The initial assessments showed 92% of employees having poor or very poor musculoskeletal fitness, high levels of stress (29%), poor quality of sleep (44%), and poor quality of life (61%).

With the program, 66% of participants showed improvement in musculoskeletal fitness scores and 77% in cardiovascular function. 92% of them showed improvement in sleep quality, 98% in stress scores, and 96% in overall quality of life. These improvements are particularly significant and contribute to overall wellbeing and productivity. The study's comprehensive findings demonstrate the impactful role of structured personalised digital therapeutic programs like Fitterfly's in addressing multiple dimensions of health leading to effective management of health conditions.

"It's time employers shift from checklist-based to outcome-focused employee wellness programs, prioritising personalised, measurable health improvements. This strategic, data-driven approach aims to reduce healthcare costs, boost productivity, and enhance overall well-being, aligning wellness initiatives with business goals and demonstrating clear ROI," said Dr. Rajagopal Thirumalai, Head of Advisory Board, Fitterfly and Ex Global VP for Medical and Occupational Health for Unilever and Independent Director - HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company.

Dr Arbinder Singal, CEO of Fitterfly added, "Employee wellness programs currently adopted by corporates in India are shallow and are focussed more around access rather than outcomes. There is a vast difference in the two approaches. Fitterfly programs deliver long lasting ROI for employers by delivering outcomes, reducing absenteeism, improving presenteeism, decreasing hospitalisations and overall cost of healthcare. We are very excited by the adoption of DTx by large corporations in the pilot stage to set the ball rolling."

Get a headstart on transforming your employee wellness in 2024. Contact [email protected] for a detailed discussion.

¹ Ann Neurosci. 2020 Jul; 27(3-4): 190–192. Published online 2021 Jun 1. doi: 10.1177/0972753121998496

² Khyati K. Banker, Danny Liew, Zanfina Ademi, Alice J. Owen, Afsana Afroz, Dianna J. Magliano, Ella Zomer; The Impact of Diabetes on Productivity in India. Diabetes Care 1 December 2021; 44 (12): 2714–2722. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc21-0922

About Fitterfly

Fitterfly is a healthtech company working in the area of metabolic health offering outcome focussed digital therapeutic programs for conditions like diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Founded in 2016 by Dr. Arbinder Singal and Shailesh Gupta, Fitterfly has over 300 employees and is headquartered in Mumbai. The Fitterfly management team comprises senior doctors, nutritionists, fitness experts, psychologists, management experts and technologists working together with the sole aim of preventing, reversing and managing metabolic health conditions such as prediabetes, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and heart disease thereby increasing quality of life and health for people.

Fitterfly has presented and published more than 50+ abstracts and papers on outcomes and impact of technology in disease management. Apart from path breaking research, Fitterfly has won several coveted awards in startup and healthcare arena such as Economic Times Healthtech startup of the years 2022, Zee News healthtech startup of the year 2022, Global Digital Health award 2022, RSSDI award for innovation in diabetes 2021, Medix Healthtech challenge 2021 and Healthtech Startup of the Year 2021 by Entrepreneur. Fitterfly has so far raised a total of $16.6 million from marquee investors. The last funding round of 12 Mn USD was led by Amazon with participation from existing investors — Fireside Ventures, 9 Unicorns, and venture catalysts.

Media Contact:
Anjali Ramnath 
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