Being obese could cost a person tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages, according to recent study.

In America there is a "pound penalty" for obese people in the workforce, a penalty that is greater for females, according to Drs. William F. Ford and Charles L. Baum, economics and finance professors at Middle Tennessee State University.

Ford and Baum are co-authors of the study, "The Obesity Wage Penalty," published in the September 2004 edition of Health Economics.

The study determined that both men and women experienced a persistent obesity wage penalty over the first two decades of their careers, said Ford.

"There are several variables, including education, race, gender, and so on, that have a direct effect on a person's earnings," Ford said.

"Our research suggests that obese individuals persistently earn lower wages than non-obese peers in each of these groups. We also found that obese females apparently pay the largest 'pound penalty' when combined with any of the other factors," Ford added.

Ford and Baum noted that an increasing number of Americans are overweight and obese, with currently about one in three being obese.

As a result, Americans are now more likely to be obese than to smoke cigarettes or use illegal drugs, they said.

The professors offered additional observations.

Since Americans typically gain weight as they age, it is possible that the obesity wage penalty may be masking employer discrimination against older workers, they said.

Discrimination against minority groups and women may also account for part of the obesity wage penalty, since for example, African Americans are more likely to be obese.

Other socioeconomic variables affecting wages are work experience, educational achievement, and family background and environment.

"Any attempt to identify the underlying causes of obesity earnings penalties must include controls for such standard socioeconomic variables," they stated in the study.

Ford and Baum have been studying the societal costs of obesity for several years and have noted that obesity wage penalties exceed those of cigarette smoking and alcoholism.