Why we turn our noses up at the overweight

AS if being overweight wasn’t a tough enough problem, people apparently think that being fat makes you smell.

A study found that they imagined a bad odour when shown pictures of overweight men and women. Images of thin people did not have the same effect on the senses.

The researchers said they may have been subconsciously classing the overweight as ‘disgusting’ – and warned prejudice against the obese may be greater than thought.

The team, from the University of California, asked people to smell a blob of lotion and rate the scent as they were shown photos of those of different sizes.

The lotions were different colours but actually fragrance free. Volunteers believed they could smell something – and the lotions paired with pictures of fat people were rated as less pleasant.

Interestingly, those who were overweight themselves believed the lotion smelled particularly bad.

They also said the cream was especially nice when shown pictures of thin people.

Dr Janet Tomiyama said: ‘This is the first step in proving that the consequences of weight stigma could be very widespread in ways that we don’t even know.’

Researchers said inbuilt bias against the overweight may confuse our senses, with feelings of disgust altering sense of smell.