Health incentive or discrimination?

Embedded in today’s culture is an obsession with looks, and in particular weight. In the media there are always campaigns to rid the catwalk of size zero supermodels and combat obesity across the nation.

Even though the media celebrate voluptuousness and curves, there has always been pressure to be thin. Even more so with the summer coming up and all the 'slim down for summer' diets. Yet one store in America has taken it a little too far…

Being skinny can save you money in Whole Foods store in America! The food retailer has offered discounts to their staff who have healthy body mass index's, and will soon extend this privilege to their customers. Basically, the lower your BMI, the better the discount!

The whole idea is outrageous. It is discrimination and I wonder how on earth they are getting away with it! Rewarding slim people? This will only put pressure on people to maintain their slim figures or lose weight; in some cases this will be unnecessary, unhealthy and even dangerous. It undoes all the hard work that the campaigns such as the Boots crusade for real women has achieved. Like when Kate Moss irresponsibly said: “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” As a role model, a statement like that could have a serious, detrimental affect on people who have eating disorders, and this Whole Foods system of discounts could have the same impact.

Moreover, it is not fair to discriminate based on weight at all! The nation needs educating so that people who need to lose weight can safely slim down.

Regardless of the fact that it is blatant discrimination, the scheme seems self defeating. It would make more sense to offer discounts to those with higher BMI's, so that they are actually encouraged to buy the healthy foods and shed the extra pounds?

BMI should not even come into question; it is barefaced discrimination! I wonder how people would react if Whole Foods offered discounts to pretty people, and not to the ugly, surely there would be an uproar?!

Perhaps they were simply trying to encourage healthy living among their employees, but it comes across as ruthless discrimination and they should reconsider their discount scheme.