Approximately 40% of adults in the U.S. have obesity. About another 30% are overweight. This leaves only 30% of adults who are not affected by overweight or obesity. And yet, if you want to fire an employee with obesity – or refuse to hire him or her in the first place – they have no recourse in 48 states.
Million Pound March on August 15, 1998, in Santa Monica, California. (Gilles Mingasson/Liaison)
In fact, until this summer, Michigan was the only state to afford anti-discrimination protection based on weight status. (Since 1976, the state's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act has prohibited discrimination based on weight.) In July, Washington became the second state to offer protection, with its supreme court ruling that it's illegal for employers to refuse to hire someone with obesity – provided they're otherwise qualified for the job.
This move is only a partial victory for those who have obesity – or advocate on their behalf. Yes, individuals receive some protection now in Washington. However, they do so because obesity is classified as a disability. According to Mary Himmelstein, a weight stigma researcher and an assistant professor in the department of psychological sciences at Kent State University, “Classifying obesity as a disability sends the wrong message, as most people with higher body weights are not disabled. It’s a bit insulting to have it written as such. At the same time, I’m glad people can’t be discriminated against because of their weight.”
Unfortunately, protection against weight discrimination is needed. In research examining how often individuals with obesity experience discrimination, rates are up to 50% higher than discrimination experienced by normal weight individuals. This discrimination is experienced in day-to-day activities: walking down the street, in the grocery store and even while interacting with family and friends. It’s also experienced in contexts with important consequences, such as at the doctor’s office and one’s place of work.
Although feeling ignored by a waitress (and attributing this to weight stigma) can be deeply hurtful, not getting a job or promotion can be even more devastating. Feeling stigmatized by your doctor may ruin your day, but avoiding doctors in the future to avoid those types of interactions can mean the avoidance of potentially life-saving preventative health-care services. Thus, weight-based discrimination is detrimental in and of itself, but also because of the far-reaching consequences it can have for higher weight people. Not having any options to redress stigmatization (in 48 states) only adds to the helplessness that plagues a growing number of Americans.
It’s unclear why more states haven’t introduced legislation to protect individuals of higher weights – especially given that the majority of adults in the U.S. are overweight or have obesity. Although a size acceptance-body positivity movement (#BoPo) has pervaded popular culture, the establishment’s stance seems to be that people get what they deserve. It seems that the popular belief is that if someone eats too many donuts and ends up passed over for a promotion, that’s just the way things work.
The latest science about weight makes it clear that blaming people for their weight is oversimplifying a complex set of factors that contribute to obesity, such as genetics, appetite, socioeconomic status and even our gut microbiomes. In many ways, it's comparable to blaming people for their gender, race or ethnicity – and the rates of stigmatization for all of these reasons are unacceptably high and cumulative. If you’re a woman of color with obesity, you’re three times as likely to be at risk of experiencing discrimination.
Discrimination due to weight is sometimes referred to by scientists who investigate body image and weight issues as “the last acceptable form of stigma” because people rarely seem to be embarrassed or feel self-conscious when they stigmatize others due to their weight. But the time has long come to push back and fight against misconceptions concerning weight. No one deserves to experience stigma, and everyone deserves support in obtaining their health goals – both as they pertain to their physical and psychological health. For this reason, obesity should be protected by anti-discrimination legislation in all 50 states – and not because it's a “disabling” status.
Or in the words of Amy Sepinwall, a professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, “States don’t need to construe obesity as a disability in order to prohibit discrimination against obese people. Instead, obesity should be a protected characteristic for the same reason that race and sex are; all are irrelevant to one’s ability to perform well at work, and all are connected to systematic disadvantage.”