Pa. University Mandates Overweight Students Take Fitness Cla

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Pa. University Mandates Overweight Students Take Fitness Class to Graduate
Saturday, November 21, 2009

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania university's requirement that overweight undergraduates take a fitness course to receive their degrees has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts.

Officials at historically black Lincoln University said Friday that the school is simply concerned about high rates of obesity and diabetes, especially in the African-American community.

"We know we're in the midst of an obesity epidemic," said James L. DeBoy, chairman of Lincoln's department of health, physical education and recreation. "We have an obligation to address this head on, knowing full well there's going to be some fallout."

The fallout began this week on Lincoln's campus about 45 miles southwest of Philadelphia, where seniors - the first class affected by the mandate - began realizing their last chance to take the class would be this spring.

Tiana Lawson, a 21-year-old senior, wrote in this week's edition of The Lincolnian, the student newspaper, that she "didn't come to Lincoln to be told that my weight is not in an acceptable range. I came here to get an education."

In an interview Friday, Lawson said she has no problem with getting healthy or losing weight. But she does have a problem with larger students being singled out.


"If Lincoln truly is concerned about everyone being healthy, then everyone should have to take this gym class, not just people who happen to be bigger," she said.

The mandate, which took effect for freshmen entering in fall 2006, requires students to get tested for their body mass index, a measure of weight to height.

A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Students with one that's 30 or above — considered obese — are required to take a class called "Fitness for Life," which meets three hours a week.

The course involves walking, aerobics, weight training and other physical activities, as well as information on nutrition, stress and sleep, DeBoy said.

As of this fall, DeBoy estimated about 80 seniors - 16 percent of the class - had not had their body mass index tested nor taken the fitness class. Some of those students will likely be exempt from taking the class once they get their BMI results, he said.

Health experts applaud the school's intent, if not its execution. Mark Rothstein, director of the bioethics institute at the University of Louisville's School of Medicine, said being forced to disclose such health information is "at least awkward and often distasteful."

And it doesn't necessarily lead to the best outcomes, he said, noting that "when the (health) goals are imposed on people, they don't do that well in meeting them."

DeBoy stressed that students are not required to lose weight or lower their BMI; they must only pass the class through attendance and participation.

"It's the sound mind and the sound body concept," DeBoy said. "I think the university, to its credit, is trying to be proactive."

Some experts said recent amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act might lead to exemptions for morbidly obese students, who could argue that participating in the class would be dangerous.

Also, students need more than exercise, said Marcia Costello, a registered dietitian in the Philadelphia area. The university should make sure its dining halls and vending machines offer healthy choices, she said.

Costello, an assistant professor of nursing at Villanova University, also noted that body mass index can be misleading. Since muscle weighs more than fat, "it is possible to be overweight and still be physically fit," she said.

Lawson, a mass communications major, said while she believes her current BMI would exempt her from the class, she's going to take it anyway "because I would like to be healthier."

"This was a decision that I made," she wrote in The Lincolnian, "and that's the way it ought to be."

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"If Lincoln truly is concerned about everyone being healthy, then everyone should have to take this gym class, not just people who happen to be bigger," she said.

That is like saying everyone should be forced to take remedial English, even if they already have no problem.

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Tiana Lawson, a 21-year-old senior, wrote in this week's edition of The Lincolnian, the student newspaper, that she "didn't come to Lincoln to be told that my weight is not in an acceptable range. I came here to get an education."

And you are. Are you being denied an education? They are just trying to fix something that slipped by you in grade school.

You cannot graduate from MIT unless you know how to swim. They make you get into a pool and pass a test.

[ncsu90]

You cannot graduate from MIT unless you know how to swim. They make you get into a pool and pass a test.

Same at NC State. If you can't pass, you are required to take beginning swimming until you do.

[chingon]

I was required a Phys. Ed class for my bachelors degree, however, my military service acted as a waiver and I did not have to take it.

[CKOD]

And you are. Are you being denied an education? They are just trying to fix something that slipped by you in grade school.

You cannot graduate from MIT unless you know how to swim. They make you get into a pool and pass a test.

[Smalldog]

They just want an excuse to charge more, for students who pay.

I have spent way over $40,000 in the last two years on my wife's Ed.D and she is still 6 months out from graduation (still worth it).

I hate seeing news articles like this, especialy since we just recieved a letter that her tuition will increase along with the addition of a few more misc. fees.

Colleges really have a racket going. You would think that they would be different considering that most of the prof.'s are commies.

[continuity]

Bunch of BS. Just another leap in our societies headlong rush to the social engineering, "everyone needs to look/act like the rest of the herd" mentality.

Stuff like this so sucks a big one.

[ArevaloSOCOM]

Pathetic.

School is for learning your profession, not making fat people feel inferior.

[Diomed]

School is for learning your profession...

Which is itself sad.

[ArevaloSOCOM]

School is for learning your profession...

Which is itself sad.

I concur.

Many Medical Technologists in my field were "grandfathered" in under the 1988 CLIA law.

He learned the s--t on the job..........high school diploma.

I believe a good chunk of it, expecially in automated parts of the lab, a freaking monkey could churn out those results......

[Diomed]

Many Medical Technologists in my field were "grandfathered" in under the 1988 CLIA law.

He learned the s--t on the job..........high school diploma.

In a situation like that, I can see both sides. Learning on the job gets you a much different, I'd say more varied, skill set than learning in a classroom. But it can also lead to bad practices.

I believe a good chunk of it, expecially in automated parts of the lab, a freaking monkey could churn out those results......

A lot of it, yeah. But sometimes circumstances require a functioning brain. Which is all too commonly lacking anyway!

[ArevaloSOCOM]

Many Medical Technologists in my field were "grandfathered" in under the 1988 CLIA law.

He learned the s--t on the job..........high school diploma.

In a situation like that, I can see both sides. Learning on the job gets you a much different, I'd say more varied, skill set than learning in a classroom. But it can also lead to bad practices.

I believe a good chunk of it, expecially in automated parts of the lab, a freaking monkey could churn out those results......

A lot of it, yeah. But sometimes circumstances require a functioning brain. Which is all too commonly lacking anyway!

True DAT!