MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: These days, it pays to be tall and being fat does not necessarily mean one will get a smaller salary.

A new study in Australia has found that tall people earn higher wages than their vertically-challenged counterparts, while being obese does not mean a slimmer pay packet.

The researchers found a strong link between wages and height, particularly for men, with each additional 10cm of height adding 3 per cent to hourly wages.

The 'height premium' was 2 per cent per 10cm for women, researchers from the University of Sydney and Canberra's Australian National University (ANU) found.

They calculated that every 5cm above the average height of 178cm boosted a male's wages by the equivalent of an extra year's experience in the labour force.

The study was conducted by ANU professor Andrew Leigh and Dr Michael Kortt from Sydney University.

Said Prof Leigh: 'This result holds constant across a number of other factors that also affect wages, such as age, race, family background, experience and education.

'We see this effect both for men and women, but it's strongest for men. For example, an extra 5cm of height tends to get a man another A$1,000 (S$1,100) a year, while the effect for women is a little smaller.'

He said that it is not clear why height has made such a difference in wages.

The researchers, who examined health and income data of almost 20,000 Australians, also found that being overweight did not mean a lighter pay packet, in contrast to previous studies' findings.

'We were surprised to find that there seemed to be no wage penalty for being overweight or obese in the Australian labour market,' Prof Leigh said.

'This is in contrast with previous studies that used older data from the United States and Germany, and found that people with higher (body mass index) earned lower wages.'

He added: 'It is difficult to know whether this is due to cross-country differences, or changes over time.'

One explanation could be that Australians are less likely to discriminate against overweight and obese workers than people in other countries.

Another reason, he said, could be that fat Australians are now in the majority, so they are less likely to face discrimination in the workplace. - AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE