STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Three out of four Swedish personnel chiefs think companies should help obese employees lose weight, a study has found.

The majority of the study's 115 participants thought overweight women did not have the same chances in working life as women of average weight. The outlook was slightly better for overweight men.

Stephan Rossner, professor at the Huddinge hospital, said 10% of Swedish men and 12% of Swedish women are obese, a proportion which has risen rapidly since the 1980s.

"Discriminating against fat people is the last socially accepted form of work-place discrimination," he told a news conference on Tuesday.

Some 63% of the human resources heads taking part in the study recognised obesity as an illness, although this definition has been set by the World Health Organisation for people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more.

BMI is calculated by comparing a person's weight with their height. A normal BMI would be in the 18.5 to 25 range.

Swedish companies are at the forefront of Europe, offering services such as sports club memberships, massages and other frills intended to keep staff healthy and happy.

The study of personnel chiefs in private companies with over 100 employees was carried out in December and January by Dialogus for pharmaceuticals company Roche.

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