Fat people are more likely to become criminals, and their very fatness may help shape their criminality. That’s the conclusion reached by Professor Gregory N Price in a study called Obesity and Crime: Is There a Relationship? published in the journal Economics Letters.
Price, an economist at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, bases his calculation on cold economic numbers. His findings, he points out, accord with a wide body of earlier economics research:
“There is evidence that for individuals, being obese lowers wages, reduces labour-force participation, constrains occupational attainment, and inhibits the formation of human capital that is important for labour-market success. To the extent these labour-market effects of obesity reduce the incentives an individual has for engaging in legitimate labour-market activities, it is plausible obesity could increase individual incentives for engaging in illegitimate activities such as crime – an idea which we explore empirically.”
Using that traditional academic-royal “we”, Price explains: “Our data consists of offenders with last names starting with the letter A incarcerated in the state of Mississippi as of 20 August 2005.” …
So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian.