IF YOU'VE been keeping up with the latest headlines, you know the unemployment rate has climbed to a 25-year high of 9.7 percent, which means that 14.9 million Americans are out of work.

If you've been to local job fairs, you also know attendance at such events has been unprecedented, with long lines of eager applicants.

What you may not know, if you're among the job seekers, is that your weight may affect your chances of getting hired.

Even before the economic meltdown, Jennifer Lewis (not her real name) knew all too well the realities of employment and weight.

Despite her stellar work history, degrees and other achievements, she has difficulty finding work and advancing in her career path. At 5 feet 5 inches and 275 pounds, "I suspect that my weight is a major barrier to my career success," she told me.

Several employers I spoke with - all of them off the record - confirmed Jennifer's suspicions. One female employer said that "absolutely . . . if I have a choice between that young woman and an applicant who is less skilled but 100 pounds lighter, then that's who I'm going to pick."

Over and over again, employers said they would not hire an obese person: "They're lazy, incompetent, nonproductive, disorganized or lack self-control." These are typical stereotypes applied to the obese. (Ironically, these same stereotypes once were applied to blacks.)

Beyond damaging stereotypes, employers also cite three other reasons that they choose not to hire the obese: image, insurance costs and physical limitations.

One restaurateur explained to me that image was 90 percent of his business. He bluntly stated: "For a server position, you don't need to look like a Playboy bunny, but you certainly will not get hired if you look like a Goodyear blimp."

As for the health-care connection, many employers simply do not want to see their insurance premiums rise. And recent government figures indicate the annual health-care cost of obesity has doubled in less than 10 years, ballooning to an annual $147 billion.

A related concern is employers' fear that obese employees' health will decline and eventually hit the company's pocketbook through workman's compensation claims, absenteeism or loss of productivity.

Then there are the costs for special accommodations like bigger office chairs.

Finally, many employers believe that as the pounds go up, performance goes down.

In the military, soldiers can be discharged for not meeting height and weight requirements and physical-fitness standards.

In Bellevue, Neb., obese police officer Chris Parent was fired two years ago for not being physically fit. He was reinstated in 2009 but put on immediate paid leave of absence pending the results of his performance test.

In Grampian, Scotland, a 280-pound firefighter was fired for being too fat. Kevin Ogilvie was later reinstated but was fired a second time when he failed to meet the department's weight requirements.

One thing's for sure: No matter where you stand on the debate, you must agree that it's difficult living plus-size in a world built for average-size people.

Image is a reason that many employers give for not hiring obese people. Are employers' fears real or imagined?

I wonder, does it really matter what size the server or salesperson is? Does their body image have an effect on sales? Do customers not buy from obese people?

What do you think, Philly? Is this just discrimination, pure and simple? Or are employers' concerns valid? Does size matter? Physical fitness? Send me your thoughts.

Kimberly Garrison is a certified personal trainer and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia (www.1on1ultimatefitness.com). E-mail her at

kimberly@1on1ultimatefitness.com. Her column appears each Thursday in Yo!