Obesity: Not a Good Career Move

Those extra pounds may be bringing you down in more ways than you may know.

It is being reported that a 10% increase in your body mass index (BMI), can cut a man's real earnings by 3.3 percent and a woman's by 1.8 percent. This new research comes from nine European countries showing the negative impact of weight on wages is stronger in the "oil belt" nations which include Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal. However, in the so-called "beer belt" countries (I didn't even know there was a "beer belt") of Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and Finland gaining weight does not have a significant effect on salary.

The real question is whether these findings are due to discrimination against overweight and obese people or to health problems or depression that may limit their productivity.

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