Fat girls suffer in job market
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A STUDY of more than 12,500 people born in Britain has found that girls who were fat at 16 had poorer paying jobs when they were 23 than their peers, even if they had lost weight.
The same was not true for fat boys, but those who were short at 16 earned less than their taller peers by 23.
The authors of the study, James Sargent and David Blanchflower, who used figures from the National Child Development Study of 12,536 people born in March 1958, said: 'This study provides evidence that height and weight influence earnings.'
However, they said it was not clear whether the effect obesity in girls and shortness in boys had on earning power was caused by external factors, such as discrimination by employers, or 'internal or psychological factors'.
The Dartmouth College study, published in the current issue of the scientific journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, found that girls in the top 1 per cent of the body mass index at 16 earned 11.4 per cent less than 'their non-obese peers' at 23, and those in the top 10 per cent earned 7.4 per cent less.
Bryan Appleyard, page 15
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments