Is There An Overweight Bias in America?

Thursday, 07 January 2010 10:00

With stories coming in from news outlets around the country reporting on incidents concerning differential treatment towards overweight persons, some are questioning whether or not there is an overweight bias in the United States. With Adult obesity rates now exceeding 25 percent in 31 states according to 'F as in Fat 2009' from the Trust for America's Health (and the National Institutes of Health reports that 60% of Americans are overweight), it seems surprising that there are reports are obesity discrimination.

However, people everywhere from airports to places of employment are reporting that they have received worse treatment compared to their thinner counterparts.

Airlines

Some airlines, including United, are now requiring passengers of a certain size to buy two airline tickets instead of only one. They state many obese passengers' size may cause discomfort to both the passenger and others on the flight who may sit next to them. United reported that they received over 700 complaints in 2008 about the person next to them taking up more space than their seat due to their size.

Passengers forced to pay for an extra seat believe that this may be bias, as other passengers who do things that bother others (such as have screaming children or talk during the entire flight) are not forced to pay an extra amount just to fly on a certain airline.

For more information and to read others' thoughts, check out this article about United on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/15/united-airlines-to-charge_n_187123.html

Restaurants

After Mississippi announced that a legislator had proposed a bill in the state government banning restaurants from serving food to customers, there was a public outcry stating that this was discrimination. The legislator claims that he did it to raise awareness to the fact that the obesity rate in Mississippi is the worst in the country, but that didn't seem to appease many people who claimed it was hateful.

To read the full story, visit: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/05/national/main3790418.shtml

Employment

Studies done the hiring rate of obese or overweight people have shown that many employers prefer to hire slimmer applicants, as overweight people are thought of as 'lazy, sloppy, and lacking in self-discipline'. Employers also thought that obesity may affect productivity and will incur extra health costs and time off requests.

Obesity discrimination also comes into play when employers are considering their employees for promotions. They are much more likely to promote an overweight employee than one that is a healthy weight.

For more information, visit http://www.employmentdigest.net/2005/10/overweight-job-hunters-lose-out/ and http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/discrimination/employment.shtml
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With proof that there is weight discrimination in America, citizens are stuck between a rock and a hard place-- promoting healthy diet and exercise while also being accepting of others who are overweight or obese.

To read the full 'F as in Fat 2009: How Obesity Policies are Failing America Report', please visit this link: http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2009/
More information on obese bias: http://www.obesity.org/information/weight_bias.asp