Obesity has long been strongly associated with negative health outcomes, but studies suggest that it can come with professional consequences as well.
In the results of a survey published by the Society for Human Resource Management in May, 11% of HR executives admitted that a job applicant’s weight had influenced their hiring decisions.
Interestingly, while only 12% of U.S. workers reported being treated unfairly at work due to their weight, one out of five said that they had witnessed others being discriminated against because of their weight.
The survey further suggested that assumptions about obese workers’ job performances are prevalent, with obese employees being more likely to be perceived as lazy, unmotivated, and unprofessional.
On the other hand, average-weight employees were more likely to be viewed as high-performing, hard-working, motivated, and having stronger leadership qualities.
Research has also suggested that employees who weigh more tend to be promoted and paid less than their slimmer colleagues. One study found that this “wage penalty” was felt most by white women, with obese white women earning almost 12% less than average-weight white women.
Some business executives, managers, and employees alike attest to the business world’s preference for thinner people as a reality.
Former IBM Chief Executive Ginni Rometty wrote in her memoir Good Power that a boss once advised her to lose weight in order to advance her career, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Keith Wolf, managing partner of the Houston-based recruiting firm Murray Resources, told the WSJ that companies are “worried about how leaders are perceived and everything they do, how they dress, how they show up in meetings.”
While he reported never hearing a client ever explicitly saying they wouldn’t hire a candidate because of their weight, Wolf noted having noticed certain trends among successful candidates.
“You can just kind of look at who actually is hired for certain roles,” Wolf said.
The 1995–1996 National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States conducted on 3,437 adults found that obese respondents were up to 50% more likely to report experiences of discrimination than those of average weight.
In the present day, obesity has become more normalized and, in some cases, celebrated, as evidenced by the use of plus-size mannequins in retail stores or the rising popularity of plus-sized fashion models like Ashley Graham or Tess Holliday.
But some research — such as a study funded by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University in 2008 — has suggested that the adverse social effects of being overweight are worsening.
In light of the negative impact that perceptions of obesity have on obese individuals’ careers, lawmakers in New York City, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington, Washington D.C., and Michigan are either pursuing or have already passed regulations to include weight among legal protections from job discrimination.
For instance, the law signed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams this May added both weight and height to the list of other characteristics, such as race, sex, religion, and sexual orientation, that are protected from discrimination for employment as well as housing.
Meanwhile, obesity rates continue to mount.
As reported in The Dallas Express, health experts estimate that 58% of adults in the U.S. will be obese by 2035. This projection hinges not only on the obesity rate witnessed today among adults but also among children.
Childhood obesity rates have climbed at such a rate that new BMI growth charts and treatment guidelines had to be established.
The climbing obesity rate has also catalyzed advancements in weight-loss treatments, as seen with the highly effective drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. Nonetheless, there are some drawbacks to losing weight rapidly, as indicated by the “Ozempic butt” complaints recently appearing on social media.