The argument that a fat person can do any job as well as their equivalent, slimmer and fitter counterparts does not hold water. Setting IQ's aside, someone who is overweight will not have the energy to maintain a busy working day nor the mental agility to cope in a crisis.

Start of article about employing overweight staff.

Previous page about obesity in the work place.

I have seen slim healthy executives in their late fifties and early sixties out perform their fat younger colleagues time and time again, dispelling the myth about age being an important factor at work. Obesity is a killer, it is killing people and it is killing business.

Your slim healthy staff will have outside interests, go home after work, eat a healthy meal and probably participate in some form of sport or exercise of an evening or weekend. They will arrive at work the next day feeling bright, cheerful, energetic and ready to face the day.

EMPLOYING FAT PEOPLE

Your overweight or obese staff will go home, eat something unhealthy because they can't be bothered to prepare a healthy meal, plonk themselves down in the front of the television for the rest of the evening or visit the pub. They will return to work with exactly the same attitude as they approach their personal lives; sluggish, tired, can't be bothered and can't wait to get home to watch the next episode of Coronation Street or EastEnders.

As a company, what do you plan on doing about this? Is it your place to interfere in the personal lives of your staff? Yes it is if it affects your business.

Obviously you can't order all your overweight staff to go on a crash diet and this would be an unhealthy and unwise option for anyone. Dieting in itself does not work. In order to lose weight, all someone has to do is eat a healthy diet like La Feytaud, live a healthier lifestyle and take regular cardiovascular exercise like walking or swimming.

LAZY STAFF

Overweight people tend to get more tired rather than lazy or maybe it is their adherent laziness and unwillingness to prepare and eat a healthy meal and take regular exercise that leads to them getting tired faster than someone who is slim and fit.

Making it clear that you as a company are concerned about the health of your staff and that being overweight affects their performance at work is a starting point. Getting rid of soft drinks machines and replacing them with water dispensers, (everyone should rink a minimum of 2 litres of water a day) removing any unhealthy snack machines and replacing them with healthier snack dispensers (nuts, especially walnuts are extremely healthy) and changing the canteen menu so that processed and junk food is not an option.

You and your management team have to set an example for all your staff. Maybe a sponsored diet for children in need would not just raise money for charity, it could be the start of creating a far more healthier workforce, improving production and increasing profits.