Researchers say extra weight is keeping over 600,000 Britons out of work, particularly men
Obesity may be keeping more than half a million people out of work in Britain, a new research presented at the International Congress on Obesity in Mexico has found.
Scientists from the University of York analyzed data from 284,258 UK Biobank participants – working-age men (38-65) and women (38-60) – and found obesity reduced the probability of being employed by 4.2 percentage points. Among those studied, the overall employment rate was 75.5%, with roughly one-quarter meeting the clinical definition of obesity – a body mass index (BMI) above 30.
The findings presented on Thursday suggest roughly four in every 100 obese people may be unemployed because of their weight alone – some 600,000 people. It also found that the effect was significantly stronger among men than women: obesity reduced men’s chances of being employed by 6.6 percentage points, compared with 2.1 percentage points for women.
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