College's Too Fat to Graduate rule under fire.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

same thing isn't it?

College teaches you everything else...why not living healthy?

Anyone can lead you to water, you don't have to drink.

This may be but everyone should have to take the class. Having a BMI below 30 does not mean that you eat healthy and exercise and are knowledgeable about nutrition, nor does it mean that your bad habits won't one day lead to sickness and obesity. The class wouldn't be offensive if everyone were required to take it. If the school cares so much, they should care about ALL their students getting properly educated on this topic and being healthy, not just the ones that they can visibly see are possibly not healthy. Lots of people are unhealthy and sick on the inside and no one knows anything until they end up in the hospital or die of things that their unhealthy habits contributed to. Everyone can benefit from learning how to lead a healthy lifestyle. What's sad is that they don't get it.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by rhoyaltempest

This may be but everyone should have to take the class. Having a BMI below 30 does not mean that you eat healthy and exercise and are knowledgeable about nutrition, nor does it mean that your bad habits won't one day lead to sickness and obesity. The class wouldn't be offensive if everyone were required to take it. If the school cares so much, they should care about ALL their students getting properly educated on this topic and being healthy, not just the ones that they can visibly see are possibly not healthy. Lots of people are unhealthy and sick on the inside and no one knows anything until they end up in the hospital or die of things that their unhealthy habits contributed to. Everyone can benefit from learning how to lead a healthy lifestyle. What's sad is that they don't get it.

I do agree with this statement. Rather than argue that people that are obese are healthy, it is probably more appropriate to argue that EVERY student could benefit from learning healthy eating and living habits. One of the most harmful things we've done in our society is convince ourselves that since skinny people may not exercise or eat well that they are equally as "unhealthy" as obese people are. The research actually shows that normal weight people who exercise live longer than normal weight people who don't exercise who live longer than overweight people who exercise who live longer than overweight people that don't exercise. We've also done a disservice to people by not calling obesity when it's appropriate. It's a shock to know you are obese, but it gives you a realistic picture to the health risks you face.

[rhoyaltempest]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I do agree with this statement. Rather than argue that people that are obese are healthy, it is probably more appropriate to argue that EVERY student could benefit from learning healthy eating and living habits. One of the most harmful things we've done in our society is convince ourselves that since skinny people may not exercise or eat well that they are equally as "unhealthy" as obese people are. The research actually shows that normal weight people who exercise live longer than normal weight people who don't exercise who live longer than overweight people who exercise who live longer than overweight people that don't exercise. We've also done a disservice to people by not calling obesity when it's appropriate. It's a shock to know you are obese, but it gives you a realistic picture to the health risks you face.

I'm not familiar with this philosophy. Of course being Obese is not healthy and NO ONE wants to be obese. The bigger issues for the obesed and all of us are Food Addiction, Bulimia (and other eating disorders), Our Food Industry, and how we relate to Food, Health, and Fitness in our society. It's not only Obese individuals that overindulge and are gluttonous when it comes to food. This is a societal problem and until we treat it as such and involve everyone as opposed to singling out a particular group, which causes other problems, including the eating disorders above, we will not be successful overall.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by rhoyaltempest

I'm not familiar with this philosophy. Of course being Obese is not healthy and NO ONE wants to be obese. The bigger issues for the obesed and all of us are Food Addiction, Bulimia (and other eating disorders), Our Food Industry, and how we relate to Food, Health, and Fitness in our society. It's not only Obese individuals that overindulge and are gluttonous when it comes to food. This is a societal problem and until we treat it as such and involve everyone as opposed to singling out a particular group, which causes other problems, including the eating disorders above, we will not be successful overall.

Clearly you are right, and our population is getting more and more obese at younger and younger ages (though you can't diagnose a child as obese, btw!) Anyway, even physicians get so used to seeing so many obese patients that we get immune to it and start thinking its normal. I can't tell you how many times I and many of my friends have said, "Oh, Mr. So and So is a little overweight..." looked down at chart, looked up and said, "oops, he's over 350 lbs! He doesn't look that big!"

My statement before, though, is a commonly held belief. "My skinny friends aren't any healthier than I am." It's not true. "I'm not really obese. My BMI is 30, but I'm big boned." No, you are obese. The BMI problem applies to a very small subset of elite athletes with extremely high muscle mass which is heavier than fat.

I, of course, say all of this as a life time over eater in a family of over eaters and type 2 diabetics. It is hard to control these behavioral patterns, but lying to yourself about your weight doesn't help.

[ThetaDancer]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I do agree with this statement. Rather than argue that people that are obese are healthy, it is probably more appropriate to argue that EVERY student could benefit from learning healthy eating and living habits. One of the most harmful things we've done in our society is convince ourselves that since skinny people may not exercise or eat well that they are equally as "unhealthy" as obese people are. The research actually shows that normal weight people who exercise live longer than normal weight people who don't exercise who live longer than overweight people who exercise who live longer than overweight people that don't exercise. We've also done a disservice to people by not calling obesity when it's appropriate. It's a shock to know you are obese, but it gives you a realistic picture to the health risks you face.

I think this is well-written and I really agree with it.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by Kappamd

Maybe I missed this, but how do they figure out who is >30? Is there a class weigh-in or something?

Also, I was under the impression that most/all universities required some sort of physical education class. Am I grossly misinformed?

We didn't have to take a phys ed in college but I took Tennis for 2 years anyways just to keep with it. (played all through high school) Most of my friends either worked out at the fitness center or took Yoga or something.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by rhoyaltempest

This may be but everyone should have to take the class. Having a BMI below 30 does not mean that you eat healthy and exercise and are knowledgeable about nutrition, nor does it mean that your bad habits won't one day lead to sickness and obesity. The class wouldn't be offensive if everyone were required to take it. If the school cares so much, they should care about ALL their students getting properly educated on this topic and being healthy, not just the ones that they can visibly see are possibly not healthy. Lots of people are unhealthy and sick on the inside and no one knows anything until they end up in the hospital or die of things that their unhealthy habits contributed to. Everyone can benefit from learning how to lead a healthy lifestyle. What's sad is that they don't get it.

Agreed...as long as we know that not everyone will take that with them when they graduate.

You got no argument here.