"Wellness programs are commonly setting weight goals for employees, but most often they are paired with employer health plans denying coverage for evidence-based obesity treatment," the researchers said.

 The study was a big one — taking input from more than 5,000 employees required to participate in wellness programs in order to get full health benefits. Here's the sort of feedback obtained by the interviewers:

1. 67 percent of employees required to take part in an employer's wellness plan to get full health coverage are required to meet weight-related wellness goals;
2. but 59 percent of plans don't cover obesity treatment (fitness training, registered dietitian counseling, obesity drugs, or bariatric surgery) — although the employers who sponsor the plans usually set weight/diet/exercise goals for employees.

Of those who had to participate in a wellness plan to obtain full coverage, respondents said their employers set the following goals:

• 41 percent set goals for weight;
• 38 percent set goals for blood pressure;
• 36 percent set goals for exercise;
• 35 percent set goals for cholesterol;
• 25 percent set goals for diet.

Of the respondents who said they did enjoy some obesity benefits in their health coverage, here's how many said they were covered for each of the following:

• 22 percent had coverage for fitness training;
• 14 percent had coverage for dietician;
• 11 percent had coverage for weight loss clinic;
• 9 percent had coverage for weight loss surgery;
• 8 percent had coverage for weight loss drugs. 

The Obesity Action Coalition and ConscienHealth argue that wellness plans must go above and beyond the basics in order to address the runaway obesity problem in the workplace.

"Unfortunately, it seems that a growing number of employers figured out that carefully crafted weight or body mass index (BMI) requirements can also be an effective way of making it harder for people with obesity to enjoy the full benefits of healthcare coverage, saving short-term costs while hurting employees," said Ted Kyle of ConscienHealth. "Our study shows how some programs can amount to a subterfuge for discrimination. All too often, a wellness plan that sets weight goals for employees is paired with a health plan that denies coverage for evidence-based obesity treatments. By doing this, an employer risks alienating more than a third of its employees."