The real truth about heavier women

Heavier women are more likely to be lighter in the wallet, reports a new study that says obese females tend to occupy lower-paying, more-strenuous jobs in less-visible corners of the U.S. workforce when compared to average-sized women and men.

In fact, the link between extra pounds and leaner paychecks is distinct: When a woman “becomes overweight,” she already is less likely to land a public-facing role in better-paying white-collar jobs.

And women who are considered obese or morbidly obese  based on their body mass indexes  are more likely to forced into some of the cheapest-paying, most labor-intensive roles in industries such as home health, food prep and child care.

“But morbidly obese men don’t seem to be underrepresented in these personal-interaction jobs, nor do they seem to be over-represented in physical-activity jobs. That’s what’s striking about the data: We see a pattern for women but not for men,” Shinall said. “This is a sexual discrimination issue.”

She drew her conclusions by examining federal employment and health data from the  Bureau of Labor Statistics and the . Census Bureau  the agencies’ joint Current Population Survey  and matching those figures against a national survey of American eating habits and a detailed breakdown of the  workforce.

The findings also cast obesity  at least among women  in new light, offering a collective image of overweight female workers not sitting idly for eight-hour shifts but toiling on their feet, lifting and constantly moving.