Noom Study Finds Members Further Along in Its GLP-1Rx Program Report Higher “Flourishing” and “Quality of Life”

Analysis of 1,259 members of Noom’s GLP-1Rx Program finds clinically meaningful differences in anxiety, depression, fatigue, pain, cognition, social participation and overall health-related quality of life at Day 145

• Seven health-related quality-of-life measures showed clinically meaningful differences at Day 145, including fatigue, mood, cognitive function, and the ability to participate in social roles and activities
• Among members with available repeated data, 84.3% met the threshold for a clinically important improvement in health-related quality of life by Day 145
• More than half (53.6%) of members with available repeated data met the study threshold for a clinically important improvement in overall well-being by Day 145; “accomplishment” showed the largest average gain
  
  

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noom, the leading behavior change company, today published “Beyond the Scale: Noom and Whole-Person Health,” a new white paper examining health-related quality of life, functioning and flourishing among members of its GLP-1^Rx Program – outcomes that capture how people feel and function beyond what the scale shows.

The analysis included 1,259 unique Noom GLP-1^Rx Program members who completed surveys at approximately Day 1, Day 60, and/or Day 145 of program participation. Researchers used two validated instruments: PROMIS-PROPr, which measures health-related quality of life and functioning, and the PERMA Profiler, which measures flourishing. The primary analysis compared survey responses from members at different stages of program engagement; a smaller subset of 126 members completed surveys at more than one timepoint, allowing researchers to look at change within the same individuals over time.

Across nearly every domain measured, members further along in the program reported better functioning and greater well-being. Anxiety, depression, fatigue, and pain interference were all lower, and cognitive function, physical function, social participation, and overall quality of life were all highest among the Day 145 group. Seven of those differences were large enough to cross thresholds researchers use to mark a difference people would actually notice in their own life.

“We know Noom helps people lose weight. The question we wanted to answer is whether it helps them live better,” said Dr. Erin Owen, Head of Research at Noom. “What we're seeing is that members who've been in the program longer report feeling better when it comes to things that can make a day hard: their mood, their energy, how much pain gets in the way, and how easy it is to spend time with friends. Those are the outcomes people care about, and they're ones the scale doesn't capture.”

“Noom believes the moments between treatment are what determine health,” said Geoff Cook, CEO of Noom. “Our whole-person approach to care supports nutrition, movement, sleep, and stress. We are excited, but not surprised, to see that our approach is also associated with higher scores on validated measures of flourishing. That’s something we intentionally design for. Features like Mindful Art Break reflect our belief that better health isn’t just about losing weight or improving a biomarker; it’s about helping people feel better and live better in their everyday lives.”

Why This Matters Now

Obesity is associated not only with elevated risk of chronic disease, but also with higher rates of anxiety and depression, poorer sleep, and reduced quality of life. People who seek out a weight management program are rarely chasing a number alone — they want to sleep better, move more easily, think more clearly, and feel more like themselves.

Yet weight management programs, including GLP-1 programs, are often evaluated primarily by changes in weight or body composition. As healthcare shifts toward patient-centered and value-based care, patient-reported functioning, quality of life and the ability to participate in meaningful daily activities add an important lens on whether people are actually doing better.

There is also a behavioral logic to looking beyond the scale. GLP-1 medications may reduce hunger, cravings, and food-related preoccupation, or “food noise.” Noom proposed a “habit window” hypothesis, which suggests that reducing those biological and cognitive demands may create more capacity to practice new routines around nutrition, movement, sleep and other health behaviors. Pairing medication with structured behavioral support is designed to make use of that window.

Inside the Analysis

Noom GLP-1^Rx Program members were invited by email to complete surveys at approximately Day 1, Day 60, and/or Day 145 of the program. A total of 1,259 members responded across the three timepoints (Day 1: n=381; Day 60: n=555; Day 145: n=456; 126 members responded at more than one timepoint). Members averaged 48.96 years of age, with an average Day 1 BMI of 31.95 kg/m², and 83.4% identified as female.

Key findings:

• Mood and anxiety: Members in the Day 145 group reported lower anxiety (a 4.59-point difference on the PROMIS T-score) and lower depression (4.02 points) symptoms than those at Day 1. Both differences were clinically meaningful.
• Pain and fatigue: Pain interference in the Day 145 group was 3.67 points lower and fatigue 3.62 points lower than the Day 1 group — again, both clinically meaningful.
• Thinking and connection: Cognitive function was 3.22 points higher and the ability to participate in social roles and activities 3.32 points higher, both clinically meaningful. Physical function and sleep domains were also significantly better in members at Day 145, though those differences did not reach a clinically meaningful threshold.
• Overall quality of life: Overall health-related quality of life was higher among members at Day 145 (0.53) than at Day 1 (0.42), a difference that exceeded the 0.04 clinically meaningful threshold. A similar pattern was seen in the 126 members with repeated observations. Among members with data at all three time points, 80.6% reported a clinically important improvement within 60 days, rising to 84.3% by Day 145.
• Flourishing: Members at Day 145 reported higher positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment, and lower negative emotion and loneliness, than members at Day 1. The overall flourishing score was 0.71 points higher. Among those with data at both Day 1 and Day 145, more than half (53.6%) reported a clinically important improvement in overall well-being; accomplishment drove the strongest gains.
  
  

In an exploratory health-utility analysis, an estimated 0.195 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) accrued in total over the 145-day observation window. Under an optimistic assumption that improvements continue for one year, the incremental gain would be about one quality-adjusted month – in the range of the benefit achieved for meeting physical activity guidelines for one year.

Measuring What “Living Better” Actually Means

The measures in this analysis were chosen to map onto Noom’s 7 Ms of Wellbeing framework – Metabolism, Muscle, Movement, Mindset, Maintenance, Membership, and Motivation – which treats health as an interconnected biological, psychological, behavioral, and social state rather than the absence of disease or the achievement of a particular weight.

Noom’s GLP-1^Rx Program pairs clinical care and cash-pay access to personalized compounded GLP-1 medication, when clinically appropriate, with a comprehensive behavioral support program: nutrition education and food logging, physical activity guidance and at-home workouts, a healthy habit curriculum, and access to clinicians. These findings suggest that this combination may produce benefits across several of those domains at once.

Noom is now collecting longitudinal data across its programs to test whether these improvements are sustained over time, and to inform the development of a composite measure of whole-person health that quantifies what it means to “live better, longer.”

About the Data

Methodology: Noom GLP-1^Rx Program members were invited via email to complete a survey at approximately Day 1, Day 60, or Day 145 of program participation. Individuals who opted out of research participation and residents of CO, WA, CT, and NV were excluded. A total of 1,259 members responded across the three timepoints; 126 completed two or more surveys. Participants completed the PROMIS-PROPr (a 16-item validated measure of functioning and health-related quality of life), the PERMA Profiler (a validated measure of flourishing), a program satisfaction question, and basic demographics. Pairwise comparisons were conducted between the Day 1, Day 60, and Day 145 cohorts; linear mixed-effects models nesting program day within person were used for the longitudinal subset. Changes were evaluated against minimal clinically important difference (MCID) thresholds: 3 T-score points for PROMIS-PROPr domains, 0.04 for overall health-related quality of life, and 0.5 standard deviations for the PERMA Profiler. An exploratory area-under-the-curve analysis was used to estimate QALYs. There was no comparison group and users were self-selected.

Citation: Merner, A.R., Morse, J., Lin, L., Moulder, R., Pashkova, A., & Owen, E. (2026). Beyond the Scale: Noom and Whole-Person Health. Noom, Inc. Available at noom.com/research.

About Noom: Noom is the leading behavior change company, empowering everyone, everywhere to live better longer – every day. Noom pairs sustainable behavior change with prescription-grade catalysts to make lasting change feel easy. Noom Health partners with top health plans and employers to offer millions of Americans a suite of metabolic health solutions – including Noom Clinical (Noom Med, Noom SmartRx, and NoomRx programs), Noom Weight, Noom Diabetes, and Noom Diabetes Prevention Program. Noom is building the future of preventive care and longevity medicine, leading the convergence of wearable-monitored behavior change, clinical care, diagnostics, and pharmacy into an integrated, AI-enhanced system that drives individualized, meaningful health outcomes.

Noom has received multiple grants from the NIH for digital health research and innovation and has been recognized by the CDC for its groundbreaking diabetes prevention programs. With offices in New York City and Princeton, NJ, Noom has been honored as a TIME100 Industry Leader, a Newsweek Most Trusted Brand, was named a “Best GLP-1 Telehealth Platform” by US News & World Report, and has been recognized by Inc. and Fortune as a best place to work. Learn more at noom.com, subscribe to our blog, or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The full white paper is available here. High-resolution versions of the domain charts and interviews with Noom research and clinical leaders are available on request.

Press Contact:
Daniel Zahler
comms@noom.com