Obese students forced to take fitness class at Pennsylvania university

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.