— Discrimination against overweight people—particularly women—is as common as racial discrimination, according to a study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University.

“These results show the need to treat weight discrimination as a legitimate form of prejudice, comparable to other characteristics like race or gender that already receive legal protection,” said Rebecca Puhl, research scientist and lead author.

The study documented the prevalence of self-reported weight discrimination and compared it to experiences of discrimination based on race and gender among a nationally representative sample of adults aged 25- to 74-years-old. The data was obtained from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States.

The study also revealed that women are twice as likely as men to report weight discrimination and that weight discrimination in the workplace and interpersonal mistreatment due to obesity is common.

The researchers found that men are not at serious risk for weight bias until their body mass index (BMI) reaches 35 or higher, while women begin experiencing a notable increase in weight discrimination risk at a BMI level of 27. BMI is the measure of body fat based on height and weight.

Co-author Tatiana Andreyava of Yale said weight discrimination is more prevalent than discrimination based on sexual orientation, nationality/ethnicity, physical disability, and religious beliefs. “However, despite its high prevalence, it continues to remain socially acceptable,” she said.

International Journal of Obesity (March 4, 2008) doi: 10.1038/ijo.2008.22 - including this chart:

Rates of perceived weight/ height discrimination among US adults age 25-74

weight status......Men....Women

normal weight......2.2%....2.2%

overweight.........3.5%....8.6%

moderately obese...6.1%...20.6%

severely obese....28.1%....45.4%

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Note by Sloan: These findings correspond with my research that overweight high school sutdents, and particularly females, are looked upon unfavorably by their peers. For females, this is the trait that corresponds the most with selection against clerks to help you in a store. See http://www.sq.4mg.com/traits_2437.htm

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Furtther reporting in USA Today of May 21, 2008

Reported discrimination based on weight has increased 66% in the past decade, up from about 7% to 12% of U.S. adults, says one study, in the journal Obesity. The other study, in the International Journal of Obesity, says such discrimination is common in both institutional and interpersonal situations — and in some cases is even more prevalent than rates of discrimination based on gender and race. (About 17% of men and 9% of women reported race discrimination.)

Weight discrimination is a very serious social problem that we need to pay attention to," says Rebecca Puhl of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, a co-author of both studies. The research, based on surveys of more than 2,000 U.S. adults in 1995-96 and 2004-06, is the first to compare rates of weight discrimination with other forms of discrimination, Puhl says.

Institutional discrimination involved health care, education or workplace situations, such as cases in which people said they were fired, denied a job or a promotion because of their weight. Interpersonal discrimination focused on insults, abuse and harassment from others.

Peggy Howell says she will never forget the day her boss told her she either had to lose weight or lose her job. She weighed 280 pounds at the time and was working as a librarian. Feeling as if she had no choice but to comply, Howell joined Weight Watchers. Howell volunteers for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, a non-profit organization in Oakland. After shedding 120 pounds in a year and a half, she quit her library job and started an online business selling items that portray people of size in a positive light. She says she now knows she has the right to challenge stereotypes, and she wants to "help people to see the beauty in themselves, no matter what their size."

Go to: Research on effect of traits like weight on popularity

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