In a controversial move, the school is requiring overweight students to take a fitness course in order to receive their degrees.
The mandate, which took effect for freshmen who entered in the fall of 2006, requires that students have their body mass index (BMI) measured.
The BMI is used to assess a person’s level of body fat based on his or her height and weight. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Students who have a BMI of 30 or above are considered obese and are required to take a class entitled “Fitness for Life.”
The university is facing harsh criticism currently in the media and academic communities. Mark Rothstein, director of the bioethics institute at the University of Louiseville’s School of Medicine, said being forced to disclose health information is “at least awkward and often distasteful.”
However Chairman of the school’s Department of Health and Physical Education James DeBoy, feels that school officials are taking the necessary steps in helping their students get healthy.
“We know we’re in the midst of an obesity epidemic. We have an obligation to address this head on, knowing full well there’s going to be some fallout,” said DeBoy.
Ultimately, I feel that a student's weight and physical appearance is not a concern of any university. You have our cheque for $6,000, what more do you want? In addition, if a student is doing well academically, and is happy both physically and mentally, why should the university intervene?
Although the university's heart is in the right place, I can see a new level of issues erupting. The new program is bound to create a variety of psychological, enrollment and physical issues that the university will have to tackle.
That being said, perhaps there are other underlying health factors that haven't been made public. I write my response today as a healthy, somewhat-in-shape university student who lives in a country that has a relatively low obesity rate. We need to remember that this issue takes place in a country that has one of the highest obesity rates in the world.
Only time will tell what the program provides. For the mean time, stay fit and have fun! BODY BREAK.
Why is it that universities should only work on making your brain smarter and healthier and not your body? As you said, obesity is a huge concern in the United States and no one seems to be doing anything about it. Too bad they don't have those Body Break commercials down there to whip them into shape.
ReplyDeleteUniversities SHOULD train body and mind.
I commend Lincoln University for taking this step in the right direction not only for its students, but for its country.
As a student that developed a severe eating disorder whilst away at University, I find this absolutely apalling. Though I came to University at a relatively normal weight for a young woman, 150lbs, I experienced significant peer pressure to look thinner. The eating disorder I developed changed my life for the worst, turning me into an 105 pound woman that was barely able to get out of bed, let alone study for my courses. Singling obese students out like this would be devastating for self-esteem, and weight loss should be an individual choice, made on one's own terms. Looking at statistics, where one in three female students is bulimic and one in ten is anorexic, behaviour like this helps no one.
ReplyDeletei could understand if it was part of a scholarship or outreach program as a stipulation, but to deny people the chance to earn a degree because they are obese is down right ignorant.
ReplyDeletewhere is the ethical line drawn? when did it become alright for SCHOOL, a place where i SPEND LOTS OF MONEY, to tell me that im overweight, and thus must forever be doomed to an uneducated life.
would it be cool if shopping malls didn't let you in if you had a BMI of 30 or over?
whats next, "coping with niggers 101" ?
I think forcing students to take a fitness course is the wrong way to change their attitude about living a healthy lifestyle. It's like getting to do an art project for class, but since it's an assignment, you hate doing it. Maybe the university is going for the whole "you'll thank me later" thing but I don't think it's going to affect the student's lifestyle long term.
ReplyDelete