Many New Year's resolutions or goals focus on “getting more fit” which may be the result but also a factor that contributes to societal expectations and biases surrounding body weight. An "Esquire Magazine" survey found that 54% of women said they'd rather be hit by a truck than be fat. (I know!)

Why do I write about it? Because the discussion about weight belongs to the discussion on DEI.

As my colleague Aga Byrczek writes in her article*: “One-quarter of the European population is fat and it is so challenging to think about fat artists, fat politicians, fat female CEO and in general fat people in position of power and/or position exposed to the public eye.”

Exactly that is relevant to the conversation about the pay gap, which needs to be considered from an intersectional perspective. Neither all women nor all men are treated equally – parental status, race, disability and yes – weight - matter in this discussion.

Studies have long shown that fat workers, defined as those with a body-mass index (BMI)* of 30 or more, earn significantly less than their slimmer counterparts.

“The Economist”* analyzed data from 23,000 working Americans collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and uncovered interesting findings.

Have a look at today’s carrousel to find 5 findings about the obesity pay gap and five solutions what could be done to address it.

I’m curious what are your thoughts on the findings? Is obesity a characteristic talked about in the DEI context in your organization? Is the weight bias addressed?

Sources:

“Let’s talk about fatphobia” Aga Byrczek
The Economist “The obesity pay gap is worse than previously thought”

Note: this analysis used body mass index, or BMI, to classify participants as obese, even as many doctors are moving away from using BMI to assess weight and health