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Big men equal big pay packets, but women suffer with size: study

Xinhua, October 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kiwi men are statistically more likely to make more money the more they weigh, but with women the opposite is the case, according to a New Zealand study released on Monday.

Men classified as obese according to the body mass index (BMI) made more money per week than those with "normal" BMIs, according to the University of Otago tracking study of the health and psychosocial development of more than 1,000 children born in Christchurch in 1977.

International research suggested a possible link between obesity and poorer mental health and well-being, so the group studied participants at age 30 and 35 to see if they could find evidence of the link in New Zealanders, Associate Professor John Horwood said in a statement.

They analyzed the relationship between a person's size, using the BMI, and outcomes such as net weekly income, savings, household income and depression and life satisfaction.

They found being overweight or obese was associated with poorer outcomes, but only for women.

"There was a small but pervasive relationship between increasing body size in women and lower income, depression, low self-esteem and dissatisfaction with life," Horwood said.

There was a clear relationship between larger men and larger weekly pay packets, but for men, being classified as overweight or obese did not negatively affect other outcomes measured in the study such as self-esteem or mental health.

There was likely to be a range of reasons behind the findings, particularly why obese and overweight women earn less and have poorer mental health, he said.

One reason could be Western society's general view that female obesity is undesirable and unattractive, while another could be growing evidence to suggest women are more responsive to adversity in life than men so they might be more likely to perceive being overweight or obese as a source of stress or adversity.

Horwood said he hoped to revisit the study when the participants were older to see whether the links persisted over time. Endi