Overweight people (unless you’re Donald Trump) face discrimination, research shows

Researchers put normal-weight male actors in different situations, then recreated them with the actors wearing prosthetics to appear overweight

They found the ‘overweight’ men faced discrimination both subtle and overt. Similar biases were found in politics, but with some notable exceptions

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Overweight people are more likely to experience discrimination than their slimmer counterparts. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 7:39pm, 11 Mar 2021Updated: 7:39pm, 11 Mar 2021

Although we all know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, the size and shape of your body affects pretty much everything in your life, from your risk of developing a variety of diseases and your life expectancy, to your salary and the quantity and quality of your romantic relationships.

If you’re overweight or obese, several studies add more doom and gloom to an already bleak picture.

In a series of experiments, University of Memphis researcher Enrica Ruggs and her team had a number of non-overweight male actors apply for a variety of retail jobs. Then they had those same men wear prosthetics to make them appear overweight and sent them out to apply for similar jobs at other stores. Those same men – both in their natural state and disguised as overweight – also shopped at retail stores.

The goal of these studies, said Ruggs, was “to see if there were differences in treatment they received when they were not heavy versus heavy.” In all cases, the “overweight” men were subjected to what Ruggs calls “interpersonal discrimination”.

University of Memphis researcher Enrica Ruggs looked at discrimination and overweight people in the retail industry.

The men were asked to rate how they were treated on a scale of zero to six, with zero meaning they felt no discrimination and six meaning that they felt it a lot. In the retail settings, Ruggs also had observers who were pretending to shop but were watching the interactions between the store staff and the actors/customers and taking notes.