Powerful career women who hold top jobs in law, medicine and business are slimming down, according to official figures in Britain. They are the only social group to lose weight in the past 18 years while the study reveals everyone else is growing fatter.

Data from the National Obesity Observatory (NOO) show that 15 percent of professional women were obese in 1997, but that figure had fallen to 14 percent by 2008.

NOO, which has monitored obesity issues in the United Kingdom since 2007, highlighted how the percentage of professional men classified as fat rose from 15 to 20 percent between 1997 and 2008.

Two reasons were said to be behind the trend for slimmer women — they are still judged on their appearance rather than skill and their ambition to be better than their male colleagues.

Professional women are aware of a bias against those who are overweight, according to Andrew Hill, professor of medical psychology at Leeds University.

Barrister Helen Jackson, who weighs around 100 kg, told the Sunday Times that obese male lawyers were accepted in her profession but female ones were not. “The pressure on women to look the part has definitely got worse since I was called to the bar in 1975,” she said. “Women now are slaves to their appearance more than they ever were.”

In a survey published in Manchester and Melbourne, fat women scored worse in an assessment of their leadership potential. The 12 candidates — six obese and six slim — had identical educational CVs, but those who were overweight were judged more poorly by volunteer students who took part in the study.

Former Tory Minister Ann Widdecombe was criticized for her appearance and subsequently lost weight when she appeared on the BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” show. She said society made demands on how women should look and added, “I think the pressure on women to be concerned about their appearance has always been there.”

    英国官方数据显示，法律、医学及商界的高职位强势女性身材日趋苗条。调查显示，过去18年来，几乎所有人都在长胖，唯独这一群体的体重是下降的。

    英国国家肥胖观察机构数据显示，1997年职场女性的肥胖率是15%，到了2008年，该比率已下降至14%。

    国家肥胖观察机构自2007年起就一直在监测英国的肥胖问题。该机构发

    现，1997年—2008年，职场男性的肥胖率已从15%上升至20%。

    据说，职场女性越来越苗条的原因有两个：其一，社会通常以相貌而非技能来评判女性；其二，职场女性比职场男性更争强好胜。

    利兹大学的医学心理学教授安德

    鲁· 希尔表示，职场女性很清楚社会对肥胖人群存有偏见。

    海伦· 杰克森是一名出庭律师，体重约100kg。她在接受《星期日泰晤士报》采访时表示，法律界能接纳肥胖的男性律师，却无法接受肥胖的女性律

    师。海伦表示，“自打我1975年获得律师资格以来，社会对女性相貌的要求越来越苛刻。现代女性越发沦为相貌的奴隶了。”

    曼彻斯特及墨尔本联合发布的一项调查显示，肥胖女性在领导潜能评估上得分很低。胖瘦各半的12名候选人具备同样的教育背景，但参加调查的学生志愿者给肥胖人士的评估较差。

    前任保守党大臣安· 威德库姆曾因外表而遭戏谑，后来她参加BBC《舞动奇迹》节目时瘦多了。她说：“社会对女性的外貌比较苛刻，我觉得女性外貌的压力一直都如影随形吧。”

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【肥胖】féipàng obesity the condition of being very fat or overweight, corpulence

【偏见】piānjiàn bias a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned