In a controversial move, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania 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. Lincoln University students who have a BMI of 30 or above are considered obese and are required to take a class called “Fitness for Life.”
The class meets for three hours each week, and involves exercise routines in addition to information on nutrition, sleep, and the effects of stress.
Although the university is facing harsh criticism for forcing heavier students take the course, James DeBoy, Chairman of the school’s Department of Health and Physical Education, 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.
Student Tiana Lawson, a 21-year-old senior, disagrees with DeBoy and feels that the obese students are getting singled out.
“I didn’t come to Lincoln to be told that my weight is not in an acceptable range. I came here to get an education,” Lawson wrote in the university’s student newspaper “The Lincolnian.”
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.”
DeBoy stressed that students are not required to lower their BMI. But they do need to pass the class in order to graduate.
School officials at Lincoln University seem to have their hearts in the right place. However, I do not believe they are approaching the issue of obesity in the right way. Their efforts have resulted in school officials pointing fingers at overweight students and forcing them to take a class that thinner students are not required to take. If the university is concerned about the health of their students, the course should be integrated in each student’s curriculum.
School officials should also take a close look at the food options available on campus. It does not make sense to force students to take a class on nutrition, and then have artery clogging foods in every vending machine. Do the students have healthy options available?
Ultimately, a person’s lifestyle and eating habits cannot be altered by what others force the person to do. Change needs to come from within. If a person is not motivated to eat healthier and exercise, a college course probably won’t change that.
Comments
To the health care system a favor and back away from the table fatty
After reading this article, I find it very hard to believe that the university would single out particular students because of their weight. I believe, as the article states, that if the university wanted to implement a mandatory fitness class, then they should make it mandatory for all students. I don’t think singling out students is a very effective way to run a university. Also, separating the students on BMI is not a full proof system. Although the BMI is pretty accurate for most of the students, it is not accurate for all. If the university is only going by one system of measurement, then I think the system should at least be accurate for all students.
The trouble with BMI is that it *isn't* a measure of body fat. It's a simple weight to height ratio. If this rule is applied blindly, this university will send large numbers of muscle-bound athletes to remedial fat class. Good luck being taken seriously after that!
“I didn’t come to Lincoln to be told that my weight is not in an acceptable range. I came here to get an education” is a pretty funny statement. Isn't a huge part of education making good life choices for yourself?
The course should be mandatory for all students who are starting now as freshman. It should not be mandatory for students who were not told that it would be mandatory when they enrolled, but everyone should be encouraged to attend. It is bigotry to single out the fat students, and, if the course is effective, a disservice to the thinner students not to encourage them to take the course. The thinner students may have less knowledge of nutrition and health than the heavier students and may engage in behaviors, with food and otherwise, that are less healthy. The course has little chance of being effective for fat students if they are singled out. Many believe that the stress of the bigotry that they face is the biggest cause of ill health among fat people.
Greetings fellow Examiner! This one is tricky. You're right, their heart is in the right place, but being singled out from peers can be equally damaging. Maybe a better move would be to offer better food options on campus, offer classes to everyone, require a health class (not fitness. i had to take health as a grad requirement at Morgan State.), things like that. Interesting read.
I am sick and tired of the nannies trying to tell people how to live their lives. Phys Ed is a good idea, but if its going to be required, then it should be so for all students. Also, college food usually consists of lots of fried crap, so maybe they should make healthier food available, but that would cost them money.
About 10% of young women have an inherited syndrome called polycystic ovary dsease. It is a misnomer, actually, because all women with PCOS don't have the polycysts. They usually have high androgen levels resulting in acne, thinning head hair, and facial hair. Other common symptoms are obesity due to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, depression, irregular periods, and infertility. It is not just thyroid problems that result in weight gain. It is terribly unfair to single these women out for punitive measures as if they are fat just because they are too stupid to know that a doughnut has more calories than spinach. I am sure there are plenty of thin students there who eat large amounts of fast food and never exercise. The only treatments for this disease involve not always effective drugs which are dangerous and have caused tumors in rats.
At my college, almost everyone has to take a Nutrition and Weight Control class. I have to do this in order to graduate. However, it is not expected of anyone in that class to lose or gain weight. It is a class meant for graduates to learn the importance of being healthy. Now if they singled people out (BMI 30 and above) like Lincoln seems to be doing, then that would not sit well with me. In my opinion, this is a form of discrimination. What about illegal drugs? Gangs? The rise in STDs? Are these topics not as important?
It's easy to say that they're there for an education, but university is not just about academics. Students need to learn more about themselves, like time management, stress management, health, etc...
Those who are forced to take the course are only annoyed because they felt singled out negatively. They should think more as someone who cares enough to tell them they should change.
Good comments all. I teach an undergrad health class. I think the upstream philosophy is better. Obesity is on the increase so all students should take the course. If you know the stats, it may be wasteful to try and educate students out of obesity. It sounds terrible but the numbers of the reformed obese are rather spare.
As a Registered Dietitian, I have learned that forcing someone to make healthy changes is almost never effective. It's important to provide information on nutrition, exercise, stress management and healthy sleep, however forcing the issue can have the opposite effect. We need to focus efforts on teaching young people how to make small lifestyle changes that will improve their quality and quantity of life. For more information, see my book, "How To Eat Fried Chicken and Be Thin Too" on Amazon or at strategicbookpublishing.com
Hold the phone here! I am of normal weight myself, but once you are 18 years old (adult) you have the right to be fat! This is America! And in college, no mandatory fitness classes for anyone, period! Especially singling out those with a high BMI in particular. Gym class stops after the high school level. If you think I'd spend any of my time in fitness class in college involuntarily that I took out student loans for, you are out of your mind.
BMI isn't a great measure of fitness.
My school (UMBC) requires two units of PE in order to graduate.
nothin' wrong with these students getting singled out. the fact of the matter is, they're unhealthy. if you don't agree with the moral aspect, then look at it economically. fat people are a burden on the aspect of the health system that is already socialized: medicare, social security, medicaid. they drain a disproportionate amount of money out of these systems. they're a burden. but seriously. c'mon now. let's stop whining about "singling people out." that's just sissy stuff. they're unhealthy. schools already implement enough pointless classes. (why do you have to learn chemistry to get an economics degree?) this one actually makes sense. hurting someone's feelings? tough crap. they're unhealthy, causing america a bad image, draining it's health system, and ultimately would benefit from a health class geared towards them anyway. in the end, it's the university's decision. fat people don't like it? too bad. you don't own the place. go somewhere else.
this messed up .they are asking a lawsiut here. what are they going to do for the people that are under weight give them a class on how to gain weight 101.
So by your logic, someone with reading deficiencies shouldn't be forced to take remedial English classes in college? Well they should; that's why many colleges test for math and reading skills before allowing registration. Colleges should do the same for obese people. They are partly the reason why health care is so expensive, but yet again, your logic is absent of any tough love.
I don't see anything wrong with teaching people to be healthy, especially if they are not. The problem is, though, you don't always have to be obese to be unhealthy, being 20 pounds underweight is just as unhealthy as being 20 pounds over. This should be a class required for EVERYONE.
When I was in college we were required to take THREE fitness/gym classes.
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