Taylor Thibault

Mrs. McGovern 4B
Lifestyle Discrimination
Equal opportunity is one of our rights as Americans an ue to the rising change in the
rates of obesity everyone is entitle to a !ob espite their si"e. #besity among chilren an aults
is a rising tren in toay$s society. Due to the economy% most people settle for fast foo &hich is
cheaper an as a result it is more fattening. There are many factors &hich contribute to obesity in
aition to a poor iet. Meical isorers such as hypothyroiism% 'ushing$s isease% an
epression are also (ey causes to obesity. )ith that being sai% obesity coul either be genetically
inherite or simply a lifestyle choice. *#besity has become a serious public health concern in the
+nite ,tates. Besies the obvious personal health consequences associate &ith being
over&eight% there are costs to society in terms of increase meical e-penitures an loss of
prouctivity. Li(e race an gener% &eight is another factor that leas to iscrimination*
.)omen/s0. Businesses toay shoul not be grante the right to eny employment solely ue to
one$s lifestyle % such as obesity % because that person coul be the most qualifie person for that
!ob. )e are all human beings an &e are entitle the right to &or(.
#besity is common among teens an aults. The rising rates inicate a lac( of healthy
foo in one/s iet or meical issues. *1n 2332% four states ha obesity prevalence rates of 24 to 23
percent an no states ha rates at or above 56 percent. 1n 5664% seven states ha obesity
prevalence rates of 24 to 23 percent7 thirty8three states ha rates of 56 to 54 percent7 an nine
states ha rates greater than 54 percent* .#besity0. The percentage of obese Americans is rapily
increasing as the years go on. These rates have not been improving by any means. *9ational
obesity rates in aults an chilren have been consistently rising since the 23:6s. Accoring to
the +.,. 'enters for Disease 'ontrol an ;revention% <6.4 percent of +.,. aults &ere consiere
obese in 2333% &hile <4.= percent currently tall uner the esignation* .Mihelich0. As Americans%
&e must &or( in orer to survive. )ith high percentages of obese Americans% it is inevitable for
our country to have obese &or(ers. 1t is essential in toay/s economy to have a !ob in orer to
pay for one/s nees. The enial of employment by a company ue to obesity is unfair an un!ust.
1n aition to iscrimination against obesity% there are other things such as race or gener
&hich are iscriminate against. *A large boy of economic literature e-plores ho& race an
gener have impacte &ages of &omen an minorities throughout the history of the +nite
,tates* .)omen/s0. 'ompanies also increase the price of their healthcare an charge more for
people &ho are obese. They o this because of the ris( of an employee being a liability an
costing the company money ue to illness or in!ury. *>urther% employers might be paying lo&er
&ages ue to the higher costs of insuring obese an over&eight iniviuals. A fe& papers% &ith
conflicting results% aress this possibility. Baum an >or .56640 e-plore the mechanisms by
&hich obese &or(ers earn lo&er &ages% proposing several possibilities% using ata from the 25
years bet&een 23:2 through 233: 9L,? rouns in &hich &eight an height &ere requeste*
.)omen/s0. #bese &or(ers are seen as liabilities ue to the fact that they may encounter health
issues. *@egister an )illiams .23360 stuy the effect of obesity on &age rates &ith a sample of
roughly :666 men an &omen bet&een the ages of 2: an 54% from the 23:5 roun of the
9ational Longituinal ,urvey of ?outh .9L,?0. 'ontrolling for the lin( bet&een physical
appearance an occupational choice% their results sho& a significant 25 percent penalty for obese
&omen% but no significant penalty for obese men. The authors note the nee to repeat the
analysis for an oler sample% since many 2:8 to 548 year ol iniviuals are in school% an
therefore have highly variable &ages* .)omen/s0. Lifestyle iscrimination has an impact on the
&ages earne &hich is unethical. 1t is not fair for t&o people employe for the same position to
be pai ifferent &ages base on the ifference in their si"e. *All people% no matter &hat their
&eight% eserve equal treatment in the !ob mar(et an on the !obA .'ouncil0.
1n opposition% every person &ho &or(s for a company is li(ely to encounter health
problems throughout their lifetime. ,ome health problems are more serious than others &hether
the &or(er is obese or not. Disease% sic(ness% an in!ury are inevitable for anyone. *A 5664
Gallup ;oll reporte that trying to lose &eight is a common activity among the +.,. ault
populationBmore Americans than ever before sai they ha trie to lose &eight% an many
reporte having attempte to lose &eight several times in their lives. The number of attempts
increase in the fifteen years from 2336 to 5664% from an average of four attempts in 2336 to
nearly t&ice the number .=.<0 in 5664. #ne8quarter .54C0 of Americans inicate that they ha
trie to lose &eight once or t&ice% 5:C ha mae three to ten attempts% an 22C ha trie more
than ten times. Dust one8thir .<4C0 of Americans surveye in 5664 sai they ha never trie to
lose &eight* .;ublic0. The person &ho is enie employment ue to obesity coul be the most
qualifie person for that specific !ob but they are turne o&n because of their si"e.
My position is limite ue to the fact that obesity restricts &or(ers from performing all of
the same tas(s as those &ho are not obese. Those &ho are morbily obese an have a BM1 over
46 are eligable for isability an are not require to &or(. *Define as &eight .(g0 ivie by
the square of height .m05% it has been critici"e for its inability to istinguish bet&een muscle
an fat. @egarless% researchers use this measure of boy mass to etermine &eight status. A
BM1 reaing over 54 classifies the person as over&eight% an a reaing over <6 signifies obesity.
A reaing over 46 classifies the person as morbily obese. More than E4 percent of American
aults &ere over&eight or obese in the 233385666 9ational Fealth an 9utrition ,urvey
.9FA9E,0 .>legal% 56650. This represents a <E percent increase from 9FA9E, 11 .23=E823:60%
&hen the rate &as 4= percent. Appro-imately 43 million aults% or <2 percent% &ere consiere
obese in 5666% having increase from 24 percent in the earlier 9FA9E, sample* .)omen/s0.
Less than 46 percent of Americans in 233385666 &ere not obese. )ith that being sai% over half
of Americans uring those years &ere obese. Accoring to the +.,. Bureau of Labor statistics%
the unemployment rate uring 2333 &as 4.5C an it &as 4C in 5666. There are obese &or(ers in
America. Many people &ho are obese are fully capable of performing some of the same tas(s as
the average &or(ers.
#besity is loo(e upon as a isability by companies. The opposing sie may also argue
that those &ho are obese may not be suitible for the !ob ue to long hours on their feet.
*Discrimination coul be base upon stereotypes of larger people% specifically that they lac( self8
iscipline% an are la"y% less conscientious% an slo&er* .)omen/s0. ,ome people &ho are obese
are inee incapable to be on their feet for long hours on en. *Accoring to the American
#besity Association .A#A0% the ,ocial ,ecurity Aministration pays about G== million per
month to the appro-imately 2<=%666 people &ho met obesity requirements for isability uner
criteria use prior to May 24% 5666% &hen a ne& policy &as issue
.httpHII&&&.obesity.orgIsubsIisabilityI0. Most people &ho qualifie for benefits uner the
earlier policy suffere from obesity8relate muscular or s(eletal problems that prevente them
from &or(ing* .;ublic0. There are other !obs &hich require the employee to be seate behin a
es(% &hich iscreits the opposition. Those &ho face mental isabilities or other forms of
hanicap are employe &ith !obs &hich are suitable for them.
Employers have no right to eny employment to those &ho live ifferent lifestyles.
*;re!uice base on &eight is no ifferent from% an no better than% pre!uice base on s(in
color% gener% religion% isability% or se-ual orientation* .'ouncil0. ;eople &ho face obesity are
physically capable enough to perform the same !obs as those &ho arre not obese. 1t is immoral
an un!ust to !uge the lifestyle$s of others an eny employment ue to one$s lifestyle. Lifestyle
iscrimination is !ust as serious as racism or segregation. *'ongress subsequently enacte Title
J11 of the 'ivil @ights Act of 23E4% &hich ha a profoun impact on employer8employee
relationships. 1t prohibits employers from iscriminating against employees on the grouns of
color% national origin% race% religion% or se-* .Employment0. Americans are to be treate equal
espite any shape or si"e. *Each of us has the responsibility to stan up for ourselves an for
people aroun us &ho may suffer &eight iscrimination* .'ouncil0. The percentages of obese
Americans are increasing an each an every American is entitle to &or( no matter &hat their
&eight is. Lifestyle iscrimination impacts &or(ers because if a person is eucate an fully
suite for a !ob% he or she shoul be employe.