Let's hear it for fat dudes

Arthur C. Brooks has written a book examining trends in charitable giving. I read a review over the weekend, and today he has a guest editorial in the Wall Street Journal called "Worth the Weight."

As we all know, happiness tends to be reflected in the way we treat others. Perhaps not surprisingly, therefore, overweight people are more likely to behave charitably than people in the normal BMI range. This is particularly true for men. For example, while 68% of men in the overweight category gave money to charities in 2001, only 62% of men in the normal range gave (although giving falls back considerably when we move into obesity). Overweight men were also the most likely to volunteer their time for various causes and charities.

Not only are they more likely to give, overweight men also give away more dollars each year than men in the normal range do -- in total, as well as to most individual types of causes, from religion to poverty relief. This is not entirely due to the fact that overweight men earn more money (although that is also true). Imagine two men who are identical with respect to income, education, age, race, family status and religious affiliation. The only difference is that the first has a BMI of 23, while the second is a portly but still-respectable 27. On average, the heavier man will give about 5% more money away than the thinner man each year. Your optimal BMI may be between 18.5 and 25 for doctors, but not for fundraisers; in fact, the top average giving level occurs at a BMI of about 28.5. For a six-foot man, this translates into a gentlemanly 211 pounds.

I'm a gentlemanly 6' 2"` 211. Nice to be recognized as an important demographic.

Posted by jk at February 19, 2007 11:13 AM