Lincoln University is about to graduate its first crop of students to have gone through college under what may be the school's most singular requirement: Students who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher must complete a fitness course in order to graduate.
According to a CNN.com article about the policy posted yesterday, the class meets for three hours a week and includes activities like water aerobics and Tai Bo. The pioneer of this policy and its biggest proponent is James Deboy, chair of the university's Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. Deboy says that the point of the requirement is not to offend or discriminate against obese students, but simply to conquer an ever-growing health problem in the United States. Many Lincoln students, as well as administrators at other universities, have taken issue with the requirement; they claim that being obese does not interfere with students' academic success — which is, after all, their objective in attending college.
A person's weight is a delicate topic, and those who do not directly feel obesity's effects can be less sensitive than they should be to those who do. Deboy's opinion, however, is that people with solvable health issues like obesity do not need sensitivity as much as they need a nudge in the right direction. As an educator, he can either skirt the issue or make an active and decisive choice to confront it. Should Tufts adopt a similar policy?
Medical experts have put the annual number of obesity-related deaths in the United States at 300,000. But even as we bemoan the problem of weight gain, a national discussion on making fitness-oriented solutions accessible — and, yes, even obligatory — has largely been left out of the picture. Similarly absent is a conversation about the importance of healthy exercise habits not only for people who are grossly overweight but also for those who maintain threateningly unhealthy lifestyles while avoiding serious weight gain. This is a particularly important issue among young people, whose metabolisms may mask the fact that their habits will catch up to them in the future.
The Daily feels that, if Tufts were to consider implementing a policy similar to Lincoln's, the university should not separate students by BMI but by fitness level, regardless of weight. Loads of stick-thin students fill up on junk food and other not-so-smart choices, and do not exercise because they are content with their body image. A holistic, health-conscious effort would involve surveying incoming students about their level of activity per week and perhaps including some sort of physical fitness component during orientation, as well as assessing their BMI in a routine physical. Students who do not participate in a sport or commit to a personal fitness plan would have a fitness course requirement reminiscent of a pared-down version of a physical education program of most high schools.
Though objectors claim that the role of a university is to provide academic education and that a school should not attempt to influence the personal choices of its students, it seems clear that the breadth of U.S. universities' involvement in students' lives has expanded. Pre-orientation programs on safety and lifestyle as well as free mental health visits are two examples of universities' effort to address expanding concerns about students' general welfare. This should include physical health.
A liberal arts university's goal is to produce competent, productive and successful adults. Many students have gotten the academic success down pat, but why stop there? Overlooking the importance of health education is one of the primary reasons why roughly a third of Americans are obese and another third are simply overweight. Universities should take steps to teach students about fitness and healthy eating habits: That is an education that could last a lifetime.
