Weight and Democracy

  1. Research from Michigan State finds that overweight political candidates tend to receive fewer votes than their thinner opponents in US elections
  2. Although overweight men have a fair shot at getting on the ballot, they tend to lose to their thinner opponents
  3. The research suggests overweight women face discrimination in even getting on the ballot—this finding is consistent with a general finding in the literature that women face greater discrimination based on weight than men

Source: Weight bias in US candidate selection and election. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 2014; 33