Obese Shoppers Treated More Rudely, Study Shows

[DoveTurnedHawk]

Sales clerks tend to discriminate against shoppers who are obese, according to new study findings.

Investigators found that when women wore a prosthetic suit designed to make them look obese, they were treated more rudely, and received fewer smiles and less eye contact from sales clerks at a Houston, Texas, shopping mall than when they shopped without the fat suit.

Sales clerks -- almost three-quarters of whom were women -- also tended to end interactions with obese shoppers more quickly, and use a negative tone with them.

Obese shoppers tended to experience more discrimination when they were casually dressed than when they were in professional attire.

However, when the apparently overweight shoppers sipped a diet soda and said they were trying to lose weight, they were treated just as nicely as when they shopped without their artificial bulk.

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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050406/hl_nm/obese_shoppers_dc

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