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RUDDREPORT
APolicyBrief
WEIGHTBIAS
INTRODUCTIONSciencehasdocumentedclear,consistentevidencethatpeoplewithhighbodyweightfacediscriminationinemployment,education,andhealthcare.Inacountrywheretwooutofthreeadultsisaffectedbyoverweightorobesity,weightbiasimpactsmillions.EvidencefromnationalstudiesshowsthatweightdiscriminationisoneofthemostcommonformsofdiscriminationreportedbyAmericans,andthatratesofweightdiscriminationhaveincreased.
WEIGHTBIAS
• Impairsphysicalandpsychologicalhealth
• Reducesearningpotential • Affectshiringandemployment
opportunities • Affectsacademicopportunities
andachievement
Weightbiasstems,inpart,frominaccuratesocietalstereotypesthatpeoplewhohaveahighbodyweightarelazy,andlackingself-disciplineorwillpower,andfromfalsebeliefsthatstigmawillmotivatepeopletoloseweight.Unfairlyblamingindividualsfortheirhighbodyweightisoftenatthecoreofweightbias.
CONSEQUENCESOFWEIGHTBIASWeightbiasisharmfultohealth.Individualswhoexperienceweightbiasand/ordiscriminationareatriskfornumerousadversehealthconsequencesincludingthefollowing:
PSYCHOLOGICALCONSEQUENCES
• Depression • Anxiety • Lowself-esteem • Poorbodyimage • Substanceabuse • Suicidalthoughts
PHYSICALHEALTHCONSEQUENCES
• Eatingdisorders • Overeating • Weightgain • Obesity • Physiologicalstress • Higherbloodpressure • Metabolicsyndrome • Avoidanceofhealthcare
Weightbiascanhaveasignificantimpactonsocial,economic,psychological,andphysicalhealth.Itisbothanissueofsocialinjustice,andaconcerningpublichealthproblem.
Withoutlegislationtoprotectindividualsfromweightdiscrimination,peoplewillcontinuetofaceharmfulconsequencesfromunfairtreatment,prejudice,andinequities.
BIASINEMPLOYMENTComparedtojobapplicantswiththesamequalifications,applicantswithhighbodyweightareratedmorenegatively,earnless,arelesslikelytobehired,andareviewedtobeunfitforjobsinvolvingface-to-faceinteractions.
A2007studyofover2800Americansfoundthatoverweightadultswere12timesmorelikelytoreportweight-basedemploymentdiscriminationcomparedtothinneradults.Peoplewithobesitywere37timesmorelikelytoreportdiscrimination,andthosewithsevereobesitywere100timesmorelikely.Womenappearparticularlyvulnerable.
Accordingtoresearch,over40%ofpeoplewithhighbodyweightreportthattheyhaveexperiencedweightbiasfromemployersandsupervisors.
“Appearance,especiallyweight,
hasalottodowithadvancing.I
havebeennormalsizeandhave
advanced.ButsinceIhavebeen
heavy,noonewantsme.Ihavea
highIQandmyproductivityis
extremelyhigh.But,noone
cares.”---Employee
Withoutlawstoprohibitweightdiscrimination,peoplewillcontinuetobeunfairlyfired,suspended,ordemotedbecauseoftheirweight–eveniftheydemonstrategoodjobperformanceandevenifbodyweightisunrelatedtotheirjobresponsibilities.
EXAMPLESOFWEIGHTBIAS
INEMPLOYMENT
§ Notbeinghiredbecauseofweight
§ Beingdeniedapromotionbecauseofweight
§ Beingfiredbecauseofweightorfailuretoloseweight
§ Beingthetargetofderogatorycommentsandstigmafromco-workersoremployers
§ Beingpenalizedforweightthroughcompanybenefitsprograms
Tolearnmoreaboutweightbias,visit:
www.uconnruddcenter.org
CURRENTLAWCurrentfederallawsdonotadequatelyaddressweightdiscriminationTheAmericanswithDisabilitiesActof1990(ADA)protectsagainstdiscriminationbasedonarealormisperceiveddisability.SinceCongresspassedtheADAAmendmentsActin2008,severeobesityhasbeenfoundtobeacoveredimpairment.However,thislawonlyprotectsagainstdisabilitydiscrimination–itdoesnotapplywidelytoweightdiscrimination,ortopeoplewhohavebeendiscriminatedagainstbecauseoftheirweightwhohavenodisability.
TheRehabilitationActof1973isinterpretedsimilarlytotheADA.Togetherthesestatutesprotectagainstdisabilitydiscriminationbythefederal,state,andlocalgovernmentsandtheprivatesector.
TheCivilRightsActof1964prohibitsdiscriminationbasedonrace,color,religion,sex,ornationalorigin.Weightisnotincludedasaprotectedclass.
Michiganistheonlystatetheprohibitsdiscriminationagainstpeoplebecauseoftheirweight.
Enactedin1977,theElliott-LarsenCivilRightsActprohibitsdiscriminationbasedon10categories,includingweight,inareassuchasemployment,housing,publicaccommodationsandpublicservice.
SEVERALCITIESANDMUNICIPALITIESHAVELAWSPROHIBITINGWEIGHTDISCRIMINATIONSanFrancisco,CA:TheHumanRightsCommissionadded‘weightandheight’tothemunicipalcodetoensurethatprograms,services,andfacilitieswouldbeaccessible.
SantaCruz,CA:Themunicipalcodeondiscriminationincludes‘height,weight,orphysicalcharacteristics’asprotectedcategories.
Washington,DC:TheHumanRightsLawincludes‘personalappearance’initsprotectedcategories.
Urbana,IL:Acityanti-discriminationordinanceincludes‘height,weight,orphysicalcharacteristics’asprotectedcategories.
Binghamton,NY:Acityanti-discriminationordinanceincludes‘height,weight,orphysicalcharacteristics’asprotectedcategories.
Madison,WI:Acityanti-discriminationordinanceincludes‘height,weight,orphysicalcharacteristics’asprotectedcategories.
THEREISSUBSTANTIALPUBLICSUPPORT
FORLAWSTOPROHIBITWEIGHTDISCRIMINATIONResearchwithnationalsamplesofthousandsofAmericansshowsthatthereiswidespreadsupportforlawstoprotectpeoplefromweightdiscrimination.Asdepictedinthegraphbelow,recentfindingsshowthat:
1) Publicsupportincreasedfrom72%in2011to78%in2015forlegislationthatwouldaddbodyweightasaprotectedclassinCivilRightsstatutes.
2) Publicsupporthasremainedconsistentlyhighat78%ofAmericanswhosupportlawsthatwouldprohibitweight-basedemploymentdiscrimination.
3) Overall,atleast3/4ofAmericansnowsupporttheselegislativemeasures.
ARGUMENT RESPONSE
Weightbias?It’snotabigdeal,andbesides,peoplewhosaynegativethingsaboutpeoplebecauseoftheirweightarejustmakingjokes.
Weightbiasisseriousandpervasive.Itisalegitimateformorprejudicethatleadstoadversesocial,economic,physicalandemotionalconsequencesforpeoplewhohaveahighbodyweight.
Weightisn’tworthyofaprotectedstatus.
Overweightandobesityaffects2/3ofAmericanswhodeserveequitabletreatmentunderthelaw.SeveraldecadesofresearchevidenceconsistentlydocumentweightbiasanddiscriminationasasignificantprobleminAmericansociety–inemployment,healthcare,education,publicservices,andthemedia.
Peoplewhofeeltheyhavebeendiscriminatedagainstalreadyhavealegaloption–theycanusetheAmericanswithDisabilitiesActtoclaimdiscriminationbasedondisability.
Thislawonlyappliestoasmallnumberofpeoplewhohaveexperiencedweightdiscrimination.ClaimingdisabilityusingtheADAhasnotbeensuccessfulexceptwhenapersonissignificantlydisabledduetoillnessorotherconditionsrelatedtobodyweight.Thisisoflittlehelptopeoplewhosufferdiscriminationonadailybasis.Also,labelingpeopleas‘disabled’whohavebeentreatedunfairlybecauseoftheirweightisitselfstigmatizing.
Peoplewhohaveobesitydon’tneedlegalprotection.Iftheywanttoavoiddiscrimination,theyshouldjustloseweight.
Manyyearsofscientificevidenceshowthatsignificantweightlossisdifficulttoachieveandsustainovertime.Onlyasmallpercentageofpeoplecansustainsignificantweightlossovertime.Thishasmuchmoretodowithhumanbiologyandlackofeffectivetreatmentoptionsthanwithpersonalcharacteristicslikewillpowerordiscipline.
Ifyoufightweightstigma,you’lldiscouragepeoplefromtryingtoloseweight.Thecriticismismotivating.
Theoppositeistrue.Researchshowsthatweightstigmacontributestounhealthybehaviorsthatreinforceweightgainandobesity,andinterfereswitheffortstoloseweight.
Weshouldbefocusingoneducationratherthanthelaw.
Educationisimportantbutcan’tsucceedwithoutlegalprotection.Statesdon’trelysolelyoneducationaboutfairnesstostopracialorsexualdiscrimination;rather,theystepintoprotectpeoplewhoaretreatedunfairly.
Anti-discriminationlawswillgeneratealotmorelawsuitsintheworkplace,whichwedon’tneed.
Eachtimeagrouphasbeenaddedtoanti-discriminationregulations,opponentshavepredictedahugeincreaseinlawsuits–andeachtimethepredictionhasbeenwrong.Inthe40yearsthattheMichiganlawhasbeenenforced,ithasresultedinfewlawsuits.
RESPONSESTOCOMMONARGUMENTSAGAINSTPOLICY
Withalloftheworkbeingdonetoreduceobesityinthiscountry,it’sacontradictiontowanttomakepeoplethinnerbutalsoprotectindividualswhohaveahighbodyweight.
Stigma,bias,anddiscriminationaimedatpeoplewithahighbodyweightispervasiveandwrong.Littlehasbeendonetostopthisdiscrimination.Improvingthefoodenvironmenttohelppeoplereachahealthyweightgoeshandinhandwithreducingweightbias.Medicineandpublichealthoffermanyprecedentsforaddressingbothahealthissueandthestigmaassociatedwithit.Forexample:Whenalcoholismwasdeclaredadisease,societalblamedecreasedandresourcesincreasedforprevention.Withcancer,boldandaggressiveeffortsforpreventionproceedside-by-sidewitheffortstoreducestigma.ReducingthestigmatowardspeoplewithAIDSallowedforimportantadvancesintreatmentandprevention.Theaimisnottopunishpeoplewithcancer,substanceabuse,AIDS,mentalillness---orobesity.Quitethecontrary.Itistoprotecttheirbasichumanrights.
Thiskindoflawcouldmakeitdifficultforpublicaccommodations,suchasamusementparkrides,tocomplywithindustrysafetystandardsandregulationsregardingheightandweightrestrictions.
Thisissuecanbeeasilyremediedbyaddingadisclaimersectionattheendofthebillstatingthattheintentofthelegislationisnottointerferewithdutiestocomplywithanystate,federal,orindustrysafetystandards.
POLICYRECOMMENDATIONSToreduceunfairtreatment,inequities,anddiscriminationformillionsofAmericans,itisimperativetoincludebodyweightonthelistofcategoriesthatarecoveredinanti-discriminationlaws.Federal,StateandLocalGovernments:
§ Includeweightasaprotectedclassundercivilandhumanrightsstatutes.§ Createnewweight-basedemploymentdiscriminationlegislationmirroredafter
theAgeDiscriminationinEmploymentAct(ADEA).§ AlignstatedisabilitylawswiththeADAAmendmentsActtocoverweight-based
impairmentsandperceivedimpairments.§
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theCommonwealthofMassachusetts.https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/H952Dutton,G.R.,Lewis,T.T.,Durant,N.,Halanych,J.,Kiefe,C.I.,etal.(2014).Perceivedweightdiscriminationinthe CARDIAstudy:Differencesbyrace,sex,andweightstatus.Obesity,22,530-536.Elliott-LarsenCivilRightsAct(1976).Retrievedfrom
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treatment.CurrentObesityReports,4,182-190.Puhl,R.M.,Suh,Y.,&Li,X.(2016).Legislatingforweight-basedequality:Nationaltrendsinpublicsupportforlaws
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basedemploymentdiscriminationwhenweightdiscriminationisillegal.EmployeeResponsibilitiesandRightsJournal,25,159–176.
Roehling,M.V.,Pichler,S.,Bruce,T.A.(2013).Moderatorsoftheeffectofweightonjob-relatedoutcomes: Ameta-analysisofexperimentalstudies.JournalofAppliedPsycholgy,43,237-252.Rudolph,C.W.,Wells,C.L.,Weller,M.D.,Baltes,B.B.(2009).Ameta-analysisofempiricalstudiesofweight- basedbiasintheworkplace.JournalofVocationalBehavior,74,1–10.Suh,Y.,Puhl,R.M.,Liu,S.,&FlemingMilici,F.(2014).Supportforlawstoprohibitweight
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REALCHANGEWILLREQUIRECOMPASSIONANDACLEARMETHODOFDEFENDINGBASICHUMANRIGHTS
ForMoreInformationToaccessresearchpublicationsonweightbias,toolsforresearchers,weblinksandresourcesforhealthprofessionals,andcommunitymembers,visitwww.uconnruddcenter.org.