Yes, Being Thin Can Improve Your Wealth

GoldFinger

6 July 2005

Despite the prevalence of overweight high net worth individuals, a substantial reduction in weight could mean a big rise in wealth, according to a study by the Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research. Surprise, surprise Caucasian women experienced the greatest increase in wealth as they dropped pounds. Afro-American women and Caucasian men also gained financially as they lost weight, but to a lesser extent, but the wealth of Afro-American men basically was unaffected by their weight. Overall, the results showed that a one unit increase in a young person’s Body Mass Index was associated with a $1,300 or 8 per cent reduction in wealth. But the changes varied dramatically by ethnicity and gender. Caucasian women had peak net worth at the low end of the normal range (BMI of 20), white males and Afro-American women reached peak net worth at the upper end of the normal range (BMI of 24) and Afro-American males peaked in the obese range (BMI of 32). Participants in this study had to lose quite a bit of weight to show strong improvements in wealth, said Jay Zagorsky, author of the study. "If you really want to impact your wealth, you have to move from overweight or obese into the normal range," he said. "You can't just drop 5 or 10 pounds and change your wealth." Mr Zagorsky said the data cannot tell whether a person’s wealth affects obesity, or whether obesity affects wealth. However, it is more likely that weight influences wealth, Mr Zagorsky said. An analysis of people in the study who received inheritances — suddenly increasing their wealth — showed no dramatic changes in their BMI scores in the following years. This suggests that wealth does not have a strong influence on weight.