Flunked for Fatness: Lincoln University’s New Graduation Guidelines Include Passing a BMI Test
Clinically obese students at Lincoln University are finding themselves in a problematic situation upon matriculation: To have a body mass index below 30, otherwise be forced to take a Physical Education class that meets three times a week for a semester before they can receive their diploma. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women. According to the calculator on the National Institutes of Health website, an underweight person will have a BMI less than 18.5, normal is 18.5-24.9, overweight is 25-29.9, and obese is a BMI of 30 or greater. For example, a person who is 5′8″ and weighs 200 pounds would be considered obese (BMI 30.4). Starting in Fall 2006, entering freshmen at Lincoln whose BMI tests over 30 are required to take HPR 103 Fitness Walking/ Conditioning or “Fitness for Life” as part of their core curriculum. The prevalence of obesity is practically endemic amongst the black population in the United States; according to the Office of Minority Health (part of the Dept. of Health and Human Services), “African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the U.S. About four out of five African American women are overweight or obese.” Lincoln U. is clearly trying to fight the good fight here, but could controversy sink the effort?
In her Op-Ed piece in the Lincolnian (Lincoln University’s newspaper), student Tiana Y. Lawson writes, “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 which, as a three time honor student, is something I have been doing quite well, despite the fact that I have a slightly high Body Mass Index… While I don’t think it was the university’s intention to make us feel excluded, that is precisely what they have done. So for now, I’m going to bite the bullet and take the class. Not because Lincoln is requiring me to, (I actually passed the test) but rather, because I would like to be healthier. This was a decision that I made… and that’s the way it ought to be.”
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
mama needs to lose some weight
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I commend the idea of considering students life-long health a concern, but this program could be construed as targeting the ‘fat kids.’
I’d suggest making a basic health/safety course a part of freshman curriculum for all students: physical fitness, first aid, CPR, basic water safety/life saving, nutritional fitness, etc.
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Agreed, since there is such a thing called The Freshman 15, even for the skinny/”normal” kids. And the skinny/normals kids can eat like shit for years before it hits them later. (Actually that happened to me in my 30s).
Also, as a person who works with a personal trainer, I can tell you that the BMI is b.s. since it is only effective for inactive people. Athletic people can have high BMI’s (due to muscle).
November 24th, 2009 at 9:36 am
How can this even be legal?
November 24th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I’d love to see what their cafeteria looks like. At most schools, a meal card entitles you to all the pizza, hot dogs, soda, fried chicken, and ears of corn swimming in melted butter that one can eat. Curious what their options are.
And thanks for bringing that up SugarTown, measuring true BMI involves a water submersion tank so that you can tell actual mass given that muscle weighs far more than fat. If 5′8″ and 200lbs is obese, I guess their entire football team can sign up right now.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Well IG aren’t we a little self rightous, and what do YOU dine on twigs and sawdust?
November 24th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I didn’t take that as self-righteous. If that’s what the cafeteria is serving, then it’s quite possibly detrimental to the students forced to take these PE classes.
November 24th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
@KHamilton, relax buddy, I’m not trying to pry pizza out of anyone’s hands-I’m a sucker for Cheese Fries too. Just making the point that when big, sweeping directives like this one come about under the guise of “caring about the health of our students”, there’s usually more to it. I’m sure the students are forced to PAY for this “class”. And if they are forced to pay for a class they must take using a thoroughly flawed measurement system while being offered no real options for decent food, it’s more than just offensive (and for the record I would be pretty Goddamn offended), it’s more like a shakedown.
November 24th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I think it is illegal somehow, and since I do not have a law degree I can’t say how, what’s next, if you’ve got blonde hair and blue eyes you automatically have to take a course on how to get along with others?
November 24th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
While others do not. (sorry hit return before I should have)
November 24th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I have blond hair and blue eyes and I take offense at KHamilton’s disparagement of my kind.
I believe that instead of insulting people like me, who really cannot help having been born this way, KHamilton should focus on herself, because she does not have to be so fat.
She should start by following something like the strictest dietary regimen recommended by the NIH — 1,200 calories a day. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/tac_1200.htm
It might sound shockingly low to those of you used to dining on “all the pizza, hot dogs, soda, fried chicken, and ears of corn swimming in melted butter that one can eat” but it’s not actually “twigs and sawdust.”
It’s really just a strict but healthy diet that will help KHamilton unload those bursting saddlebags. Once she’s healthy, she might even be able to move up to 1,600 calories a day.
Those football players might consider such a diet too. Many are not exactly the gold standard for lean. Anyway, arguing that the BMI calculator is too inaccurate is just a pretext that fatties use to continue eating like Taft.
I recognize that to some I have only confirmed KHamilton’s point that blond-haired, blue-eyed people like me do not get along well with others. But I really do sympathize her, because the statement, “I think it is illegal somehow, and since I do not have a law degree I can’t say how,” demonstrates that she is not only fat but also stupid.
The prematurity of her penultimate post also suggests that she might have been drunk.
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, KHamilton.