Less attractive people die younger than the beautiful

A new study has found that less attractive individuals pass away sooner than better-looking counterparts, with differences noted in both sexes.

Ugly men died, on average, a year earlier, while this figure doubled to two years for aesthetically challenged women.

The experts behind the results say they are a product of discrimination that often goes unnoticed against the ugly.

Daniel Hamermesh, from the University of Texas at Austin, said: "If you're not attractive, it's a disadvantage in almost every activity you undertake.

"Promotion, wages, dating - they come off worse in every activity."

Hamermesh thinks that life expectancy for the ugly could be increased with a shift in societal attitudes.

He said: "Over time, if people didn't pay as much attention to looks in daily life, I'm quite sure that 100 years from now we wouldn't see these differences in longevity."

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