Overly obese Boy Scouts barred from Jamboree

[Hum]

The Boy Scouts of America?s new fitness standards for participating in the organization?s annual Jamboree are so rigorous they would not just exclude chubby tenderfoots ? they would even bar many NFL players.

All Scouts were required to have a physical exam in advance of the Jamboree and those with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater were barred from participating at this year?s gathering, which features strenuous activities such as hiking, rock climbing, rappelling and biking. Scouts with BMIs between 32 and 39.9 had to provide additional health information to take on the 1,000-plus acre Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia. But critics said excluding obese Boy Scouts goes against the spirit of the organization.

Patricia Bannon, a registered dietician and author of ?Eat Right When Time Is Tight,? told FoxNews.com she found no issue with the guidelines, but said those who were excluded from the fitness competition should still be allowed to participate in some modified way.

more

[neufuse Veteran]

of course it would bar many NFL players, a lot of them are FAT! littearly! they might have a lot of muscle weight, but they also have a ton of fat, hence why you want larger defense players... you need them larger to hold off the skinnier runners...

[Hum]

I blame Twinkies.

[threetonesun]

of course it would bar many NFL players, a lot of them are FAT! littearly! they might have a lot of muscle weight, but they also have a ton of fat, hence why you want larger defense players... you need them larger to hold off the skinnier runners...

 

Also most of those guys are in their late 20s. Also most of them have serious health problems by the time they're 40.

 

BMI is not a great measure of human obesity, but BMI + waist size will get you close enough to know who's fat and who is just muscular.

[SledgeNZ]

Surely they'd want the fatties as they don't run as fast so easier to catch and abuse?

[+Warwagon MVC]

While i'm sure a select few look fat and are in great shape, i'm guessing the majority are just fat.

[compl3x]

Overly obese, ey? Is there such a thing as overly obese? What's the line between regular obese and overly obese?

 

 

Exposing obese people to sudden amounts of exercise is dangerous. The first kid who collapses will have his parents suing the scouts. This might be more about liability than trying to exclude kids.

[theyarecomingforyou]

The Boy Scouts of America?s new fitness standards for participating in the organization?s annual Jamboree are so rigorous they would not just exclude chubby tenderfoots ? they would even bar many NFL players.

All Scouts were required to have a physical exam in advance of the Jamboree and those with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater were barred from participating at this year?s gathering, which features strenuous activities such as hiking, rock climbing, rappelling and biking. Scouts with BMIs between 32 and 39.9 had to provide additional health information to take on the 1,000-plus acre Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia.

More ridiculous fearmongering from the Fox News Terror Network?.

 

The vast majority of NFL players would be able to provide additional health information to demonstrate that they are physically fit, allowing them to partake. Some NFL players would technically be barred under these rules but the reality is that you don't get children under the age of 18 looking like Michael Jasper?who is mentioned in the article?because their hormones don't support it; they haven't fully developed physically. Further, "athletes" like Michael Jasper are actually significantly overweight - they have a high muscle mass but their weight still isn't healthy. However, this isn't about professional athletes undergoing intense physical regimes with personal trainers. What this comes down to is physically unfit children being prevented from participating for health reasons, which is understandable.

 

Fox News has picked a ridiculous hypothetical and tried to use it to generate outrage when in reality the rule is perfectly reasonable. The BMI scale is far from perfect but it's suitable for the intended usage here.

[Knife Party]

stop feeding your children garbage, problem solved.

[blade1269]

I blame Twinkies.

Too soon :)

[briangw]

You can also be barred from C.O.P.E. and other high adventure activities if you go over the limits. I weigh more than my height and the camp medic didn't question my forms because I was the only leader able to go with my Troop for half of a week of summer camp last week. But, I spoke up and said I wouldn't be doing anything strenuous, other than walking up hills with the Scouts to attend some of their classes.

[DocM]

The football player comparison is a bad anology. The fact is many kids, even athletes, have congenital a cardiac arrhythmia or other problems that, combined with obesity and many of those strenuous activities, could cause trouble or death. Look at how many outwardly "normal" kids drop dead doing sports. The vast majority had passed the required pre-athletics physical.

[Salutary7]

If the kids could bear to be more fit, maybe they shouldn't be excluded from physical activity :huh:

[episode]

of course it would bar many NFL players, a lot of them are FAT! littearly! they might have a lot of muscle weight, but they also have a ton of fat, hence why you want larger defense players... you need them larger to hold off the skinnier runners...

Its mostly OFFENSIVE linemen that are fat. Defensive Line is a lot more speed based.

[HawkMan]

of course it would bar many NFL players, a lot of them are FAT! littearly! they might have a lot of muscle weight, but they also have a ton of fat, hence why you want larger defense players... you need them larger to hold off the skinnier runners...

 

To bad BMI is an absolutely rubbish useless measurement who doesn't measure FAT, LITERALLY! :)

[HawkMan]

The football player comparison is a bad anology. The fact is many kids, even athletes, have congenital a cardiac arrhythmia or other problems that, combined with obesity and many of those strenuous activities, could cause trouble or death. Look at how many outwardly "normal" kids drop dead doing sports. The vast majority had passed the required pre-athletics physical.

 

incidentally being overweight doesn't make you un-healthy.

 

I'm overweights. yet. I don't have cholesterol, high or low blood pressure or any other condition(other than my non related Asthma from childhood). meanwhile a lot of thin/fit people are high cholesterol and blood pressure issues or other issues. Weight itself doesn't necessarily have any relation to health issues, though I'm not talking about the needs to bus seats type of fat here, which is getting very common over there. 

[briangw]

incidentally being overweight doesn't make you un-healthy.

 

I'm overweights. yet. I don't have cholesterol, high or low blood pressure or any other condition(other than my non related Asthma from childhood). meanwhile a lot of thin/fit people are high cholesterol and blood pressure issues or other issues. Weight itself doesn't necessarily have any relation to health issues, though I'm not talking about the needs to bus seats type of fat here, which is getting very common over there. 

 

It can potentially cause other issues in the future; i.e. bad knees, legs, shin splints, Plantar fasciitis, etc. I started training for a 5K earlier this year and had to stop because I tore my calf muscles. Doc said that the added weight put too much stress on the lower extremities. Still, I agree with you. My cholesterol and bp are normal despite being over 300 lbs

[Original Poster]

they should be allowed to participate... but if they cant keep up because of their obesity they should be left behind ... in the woods... without help ... 

It can potentially cause other issues in the future; i.e. bad knees, legs, shin splints, Plantar fasciitis, etc. I started training for a 5K earlier this year and had to stop because I tore my calf muscles. Doc said that the added weight put too much stress on the lower extremities. Still, I agree with you. My cholesterol and bp are normal despite being over 300 lbs

even with good bp and cholestrol you are still at massive risk from a heart attack being that size

[threetonesun]

incidentally being overweight doesn't make you un-healthy.

 

I'm overweights. yet. I don't have cholesterol, high or low blood pressure or any other condition(other than my non related Asthma from childhood). meanwhile a lot of thin/fit people are high cholesterol and blood pressure issues or other issues. Weight itself doesn't necessarily have any relation to health issues, though I'm not talking about the needs to bus seats type of fat here, which is getting very common over there. 

 

Of course it does. Literally everything you do is harder on your body if you're overweight. This is doubly true if you're obese.

 

Yes, sure, a lot of people can live like that into their 40s and 50s, but once you get older you're more likely to end up with things like joint pain and diabetes. And once you can move around as much due to other issues, you're more likely to have heart problems.

[HawkMan]

Of course it does. Literally everything you do is harder on your body if you're overweight. This is doubly true if you're obese.

 

Yes, sure, a lot of people can live like that into their 40s and 50s, but once you get older you're more likely to end up with things like joint pain and diabetes. And once you can move around as much due to other issues, you're more likely to have heart problems.

 

Except the medical community has declared years ago and still agrees that being over weight doesn't mean health risk. yes, of course if your American style obese of course it's really bad for you. but being over weight doesn't mean that. there are other things far more dangerous to you than being "healthy overweight".

 

Maybe we should ban sports to, it causes uncountable number of health issues each year, and deaths as well. and must like being morbidly obese, it also causes early damage to your joints and and heart. 

[threetonesun]

Except the medical community has declared years ago and still agrees that being over weight doesn't mean health risk. yes, of course if your American style obese of course it's really bad for you. but being over weight doesn't mean that. there are other things far more dangerous to you than being "healthy overweight".

 

Maybe we should ban sports to, it causes uncountable number of health issues each year, and deaths as well. and must like being morbidly obese, it also causes early damage to your joints and and heart. 

 

There are very few long term studies on weight. At best, there's an agreement that some small weight gain as you age is not an issue. I've never seen a single one that agrees that being overweight when young will have no issues over the course of your lifetime, and I highly doubt such a study has ever been conducted considering how recent of an issue childhood obesity is.

 

And yes, playing sports will give you more issues as you age. I'm sure if you looked at the life expectancy of NFL players, it's less than average. I'm not saying we should ban anything, nor would I argue that living to 120 stick thin and stuck in your house is anyway to live, but you also can't wave everything off as a non-issue.

[ahhell]

The Boy Scouts of America is a really ######ed up organization.  They used to stand for something now they just seem to discriminate (anti-gay, obesity, etc).

 

When I was in Scouts (in Canada) growing up, we were just a bunch of kids and that's it.

[briangw]

The Boy Scouts of America is a really ****ed up organization.  They used to stand for something now they just seem to discriminate (anti-gay, obesity, etc).

 

When I was in Scouts (in Canada) growing up, we were just a bunch of kids and that's it.

 

I disagree. Been with the organization for some time. Just because it looks bad in selective media outlets (and yeah, all of the bad stories get shown vs. the good ones), it doesn't reflect everywhere else. Our Pack/Troop, District, and Council don't act like that.

 

I, too, never experienced problems as a young Scout in North Carolina.

[Salutary7]

Except the medical community has declared years ago and still agrees that being over weight doesn't mean health risk. yes, of course if your American style obese of course it's really bad for you. but being over weight doesn't mean that. there are other things far more dangerous to you than being "healthy overweight".

 

There are very few long term studies on weight. At best, there's an agreement that some small weight gain as you age is not an issue. I've never seen a single one that agrees that being overweight when young will have no issues over the course of your lifetime, and I highly doubt such a study has ever been conducted considering how recent of an issue childhood obesity is.

 

I would say studies like this tend to give a clear picture:

http://openi.nlm.nih.gov/detailedresult.php?img=1851009_1471-2458-7-49-2&req=4

 

Basically they compare the relative mortality rates of obese individuals as well as mortality rates for smokers to those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki radiation exposure victims. And the results seem to point toward a longer life expectancy for the radiation victims. So a high BMI (>30) does definitely indicate high risk factors for life-shortening conditions.

[compl3x]

The Boy Scouts of America is a really ****ed up organization.  They used to stand for something now they just seem to discriminate (anti-gay, obesity, etc).

 

When I was in Scouts (in Canada) growing up, we were just a bunch of kids and that's it.

 

 

It seems, at least from a foreigners perspective, that the boy scouts are being used for other peoples' agendas in some cases. I think the gay issues would have been solved years ago if it wasn't for religious conservatives meddling in the issue. We see some churches cut funding and affiliation after the boy scouts dropped the policy covering gay scouts. As far as I know they still don't allow gay scout leaders. At least ones who are out.