Your Weight Could Be Hurting Your Career Success

Over the recent years, employers have been making bigger strides to incorporate a philosophy of healthy living into their employees' daily routines. And while this mode of thinking impresses the masses, there are those who indicate that obesity in the workplace is damaging in ways unrelated to physical health. Recent examinations at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reveal that approximately 130 million adults in the United States are obese or overweight. That being said, the CDC took a closer look at how these statistics affect the workplace.

PROBLEMS THE OVERWEIGHT FACE

Miriam Berg, president of the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination (CSWD) reports that the prejudice surrounding overweight persons grossly affects their professional life. She goes on to explain that because our society appears to be infatuated with dieting and weight loss, overweight people feel that they "do no fit into the narrow definition of what is attractive." Additionally, Jeffery Sobel, a Cornell University researcher adds that obese and overweight people are continuously discriminated against and shunned by others around them, which can in turn impede their climb up the corporate ladder.

Miriam Berg also cites an incident where an applicant with great resume and phone interview results, arrived for the in-person interview, and was suddenly advised that the position had been filled. She relates that those who seek public jobs may face the most discrimination because customers and clients themselves may be "offended" by an obese employee.

PROBLEMS COMPANIES HAVE WITH OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE

According to a study performed by Dr. Charles L. Baum of Middle Tennessee State University, obesity is a major factor in salary distribution. He finds that overweight women in general earn almost 5% lower wages because of their size. The CSWD also indicates that overweight workers appear to be offered lower raises than their thinner counterparts.