There’s no question about it: America seems to just be getting fatter. No matter how many new exercise programs are developed, or how much low fat food is created, the average American waistline increases every year. This has brought increased attention to a question that has been around longer than you might think: Are obese workers the subject of career impacting discrimination at the workplace?

The following article from MSNBC discusses just that: Fat Chance: It’s not easy for obese workers. This is something that I really haven’t thought too much about before, as I have never been in this kind of situation. However, I can definitely see this happening, if not on a conscious level than at least a subconscious one. The reason for this is simple: As much as we like to say that looks don’t matter, they do. There’s always going to be situations where how you look can affect your career advancement.

Furthermore, I would make the analogy that being overweight can be similar to dressing on the edge of your dress code for work in some situations. While it’s acceptable to do, it can be harmful to your career. Do I agree that it should be this way? Absolutely not. Personally, I don’t care how much you weigh, I just care that you are a professional and can get the job done. However, this doesn’t mean that everybody thinks like that, or that I haven’t been guilty of subconsciously using someone’s weight against them. With our image based society, there’s just no escaping your weight coming into play in some fashion with most careers.

What do you think? Have you seen examples of this at your work? I personally haven’t noticed any blatantly obvious discrimination, but there have been cases where I think that a person’s weight has worked against them in a decision important to their career.