Lincoln U. Requires Its Students to Step on the Scale

[valleywine]

The article discusses some potential legal issues.


http://chronicle.com/article/Lincoln-U-Requires-Its/49223/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Lincoln U. Requires Its Students to Step on the Scale
By Eric Hoover

At Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania, students who are deemed too heavy must pass a physical-fitness course.

As part of the university's core curriculum, campus health educators weigh and measure all freshmen during the fall semester, and later calculate each student's body-mass index, or BMI. Those with a BMI above 30, which suggests obesity, must enroll in a one-credit course called "Fitness for Life" before they graduate. Students can satisfy that requirement if they "test out"—by subsequently earning a BMI below 30—or by passing a sports course.

As first reported on Wednesday by the university's student newspaper, The Lincolnian, some students and faculty members at the historically black institution have recently complained about the requirement. The newspaper quoted a sophomore who said, "It's not up to Lincoln to tell me how much my BMI should be." In the same article, a freshman asked: "What's the point of this?"

The point is to keep students healthy, says James L. DeBoy, chair of Lincoln's department of health, physical education, and recreation. All Lincoln students have long been required to pass a two-credit course called "Dimensions of Wellness," which covers array of subjects, such as alcohol, drugs, nutrition, and sexual health.
...................

J. Eric Oliver, a political-science professor at the University of Chicago, has argued that the BMI reveals far too little about how people live, how they get sick, and why they die. In Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic (Oxford University Press, 2006), Mr. Oliver wrote: "BMI is not only a poor measure of health, it is actually a lousy measure of obesity."

Whatever the case, Lincoln University appears to be the first university to make weight testing mandatory. James C. Turner, president of the American College Health Association and executive director of the University of Virginia's department of student health, said in an e-mail message that he had never heard of this kind of requirement. "I don't know if there is any evidence," he wrote, "that such a policy would result in weight loss."

[Obamanaut]

1. Body fat content is a better tool than BMI n/t

[Hepburn]

2. IMO, this is totally out of line. n/t

[izquierdista]

3. This is excellent and long overdue

At last, some university shows concern for the whole student, not just serving up some narrow slices of academic material. There is much in the implementation though, and programs like this should never be punitive, but rather counseling and enriching experiences. The results won't be seen even in a decade, but in 30 and 40 years, when the incidence of strokes and heart disease among their alumnae are reduced compared to those who did not go through the program.

[surrealAmerican]

4. They should just require the class for everyone.

Having a lower BMI does not mean the student can ignore their need for exercise.

[Johonny]

6. I agree

Particularly because college is a place where people tend to first put on weight. Learning the value of eating healthy and exercising is valuable regardless of your body shape.

[MineralMan]

5. Next up, a revival of the "Posture Photos."

[Taitertots]

7. It is about time

These institutions need to step up and say to earn a degree you need to have a fit mind and body.

Are they going to do it for professors too?

[Cid_B]

8. I don't understand why people still use BMI

I'm 6'0"..225 lbs and right at 30 on the BMI scale (obese.) I also have 14% body fat and lift 6 days a week... A far cry from obese.

Are exceptions made for large physically fit people? In any case this is more nannying ( is that a word?) Isn't college supposed to be a time of independence?