September 26, 2007
If you have never read Penelope Trunk’s blog, you are missing out. She is one of my favorite bloggers and has good, controversial opinions about worklife.
I think we all wonder about the correlation between health and professional (and personal) success. She has a good blog entry today about being overweight.
“Heavier people do worse at work than everyone else, employers discriminate against overweight people, and it’s even legal to do.”
As health drives cost and impacts performance (e.g., missed hours), people consciously or subconsciously pay attention to it. We could debate endlessly the ethical issues here, but let’s stick with reality. It happens. So, how do you address it.
Some people don’t like smokers. Some people worry about people that are chronically absence. Others realize that caring for a sick kid impacts their entire team.
Just a follow-up to this. In Money Magazine (October 07, pg. 79), they say that obese Americans spend 26% more out of pocket on healthcare (per Health Affairs). They take nearly twice as many prescriptions and earn $1.42 per hour less.