“Obesity is absolutely one of the few stigmatised categories where we still do think it’s OK to discriminate,” says Enrica Ruggs, assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

“It’s especially interesting that it’s still so pervasive a stigma with so many people in the United States who are overweight.”

Drawing the line

Obesity is generally defined as a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30, while morbid obesity is a BMI of more than 40. (BMI can be calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters. Normal weight is considered to be a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9.)

Employers often misjudge the abilities of obese people and presume they can’t handle difficult tasks or work long periods without getting tired. Some overweight people may actually be quite strong and have high endurance levels. “You need to judge the individual person and not assume because people are large that they can’t do certain physical things,” says Abigail Saguy, a sociology professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and author of the book What’s Wrong with Fat. “Some large people are very fit; there are people who fall in the obese category, but run marathons.”