prevent people from offing themselves due to depression AND avoid becoming bloated parasitic blobs? and how will the REMAINING SMALL SEGMENT of the population avoid suicidal depression themselves when THEIR entire individual and collective efforts are devoted solely to cleaning up the mess. I work with a lot of fat women and even though the organization functions it would function a lot better if they were thin and healthy rather than fat and unhealthy. So are they "doing the job" or not?

Of course overweight white women should not make less money based upon their weight. It's just that many people would far rather blame people for being overweight than to acknowledge that it has absolutely nothing to do with their work skills.

Carol Lloyd posted: "Overweight white women suffer a significant wage penalty. Research shows it's only getting worse."

I can't understand why folks want to argue about whether people can help being fat. Or want to point out that you can't tell if people are making healthy choices by just looking at them. Is it okay to give a wage penalty to only one group for visibly not making healthy choices? Is healthy choices really the altar you're hanging your logic around why only "overweight white women suffer a significant wage penalty?"

The point is not whether people can help being fat. I guess if they can't we burn them at the stake. The point is not about it being okay to judge people harshly for not making healthy choices, which by the way you can't tell by looking at them that they are making healthy choices. Yes that was painful to write.

Geeze, it's like a lot of people can't wrap their minds around Carol's posting. Do overweight white women deserve equitable pay? Why do all other groups of people miss getting penalized?

No one should stop taking any of the drugs I have mentioned cold turkey. It is extremely dangerous to stop any psych drug abruptly. Doing this can cause suicidal thoughts, panic reactions, and even psychosis. Some new SSRIs are alleged to cause less weight gain. Some antidepressants, like Wellbutrin, cause little weight gain. Always talk to your doctor before stopping any such medication and always taper off very slowly -- even maybe more slowly than your doctor suggests.

Also, as frustrating as it may be to some, for some conditions medication is absolutely necessary. If the choice is your weight or your sanity, stay sane. Sane is better.

Be well and love yourself. For people who are overweight: You are not your weight.

I am not going to comment on the race or gender issues raised in the article. I am not even going to comment on the article itself. I am just going to say that, judging by some of the letters here, if some folks are in supervisory positions and discriminating against workers based upon weight, they could get sued.

I worked for three years in the field of vocational rehabilitation with disabled people. People can be legally disabled due the physical or mental conditions or due to certain types of alcoholism. This is because even our stingy govermental powers that be have recognized that some types of alcoholism have a strong genetic component. In other words, not all recalcitrant alcoholism is due to behavior mainly but due to one's physical makeup. The same is true of some reasons for obesity. Endocrine disorders, back injury, and being medicated for certain mental illnesses can all cause weight gain because of the limitations caused by the illness or because of the illness itself. Welcome to the real world, judgmental ones!

Allow me to explain about the medication for certain mental illnesses affecting weight. First, antiphychotics are prescribed for bipolar, schizoaffective, schizphrenic, and some depressive disorders. There are many people on antipsychotics today who do not realize that they are on them because they think they are only being medicated for depression. Not true! If a depression involves ruminative or repetive thoughts -- including suicidal ideation -- antiphychotics are often prescribed. Antipsychotics can cause a ravenous hunger and a weight gain of 85-100 pounds. Doctors don't always warn their patients about this and phamaceutical inserts only mention weight gain as a possible side effect but do not mention how much weight it is possible to gain. Now the drug companies have good reason not to want people to know this and doctors don't want to take a chance that their patients will off themselves.

SSRIs are frequently prescribed antidepressants. The average weight gain with some types of SSRIs is 35 pounds. Upon first taking SSRIs, a patient might actually lose appetite and lose weight but this effect is soon gone and replaced by a boomerrang effect in which weight is actually gained. SSRIs also effect the endocrine system and appetite. (SSRIs sometimes actually cause suicidal ideation.)

Even old style antidepressants like Elavil can cause weight gain. Elavil is a good antidepressant and rarely causes suicidal ideation and it often helps people sleep much better, but a person can gain 50 pounds on an extended course of Elavil. All medicines that help people sleep can cause weight gain if taken over a long period of time. Even Benedryl can cause some weight gain.

Other culprits are food additive and seratonin enhancing supplements.

Exercise (especially regular aerobic exercise) can help improve mood and control weight, but not all people can do aerobic exercise because most aerobic exercises are high impact. Weight training builds muscle and thus causes the body to burn more fat. Almost everyone can to some form of weight lifting exercise. People with back problems can lift hand weights while sitting in a chair.

Some of you people amaze me. You are so cruel and ugly to others.

Any disabled person can be discriminated against if the discrimination results from prejudice and not that person's inability to actually perform the required tasks of the job. You can't just eyeball a person and say, "I think this person is too fat to work." If that fat person is disabled due to disability but can still perform the work and you discriminate, you are breaking the law. Frankly, I look forward to some of you being sued. Many people cannot help being fat, but there is no excuse for being just plain nasty.

Pretty is as pretty does.