Height and weight have a direct correlation to pay, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal BMJ.
Researchers studied 119,669 men and women to look for genetic markers known to influence height and weight, and found a direct relationship between body type and income. For every 2.5 inches of extra height, a man earns an average of $1,611 more per year and is 12 percent more likely to work in a high-status job. For women, weight can drag down pay, with every 4.6 points increase in body mass index chipping $4,200 off her earnings.
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The authors allowed that higher BMI could harm health, which could bring down productivity and thus income, but said that the lower income was reported both among women with a higher BMI and no harmful health effects as well as those with them.
"These findings have important social and health implications, supporting evidence that overweight people, especially women, are at a disadvantage and that taller people, especially men, are at an advantage," the researchers wrote.
