Two decades ago I was a student rep on a Presidential Task Force at SFU looking at reform of the undergraduate curriculum. One of the faculty Task Force members had graduated from an English university (I can't remember which one) where, in order to graduate, students had to swim several lengths of the pool. That's always stuck with me for some reason. Perhaps because were it an SFU requirement, I would have never graduated.

Obesity may be a quick, visual cue that the body's system's aren't functioning optimally, but so is chronic underweight. Natural thinness can hide bad habits too, and many overweight people live healthier and more health-aware lifestyles than their thinner friends.

I'd be in favour of a blanket Human Health course for all undergrads, preferably in First Year. Including "Marketing the Body Image" and "Health Reports: When The Latest Studies Contradict One Another".

@ Robert Clift:

Apparently, some US colleges still require a swim test to graduate. A holdover from traditional English colleges, perhaps, when swimming races were an important part of inter-school sports and upholding school honour? Or just a cheap and easy way of compelling students to think about their physical health once in a while?

When we started banning smoking in buildings and indeed across entire campuses, we opened a Pandora's Box of public health interventionism. I would see forced weight loss etc. as a simple logical extension of smoking ban ideology.

I think this is wrong. The university seems to accept that that obesity is an individually controllable "problem." I disagree. My sister was obese for all of her life (I believe she inherited it from our mother; I lucked out). She never ate excessively, or overindulged on sweets/fats/etc. We ate pretty much the same thing; she was obese from about age 4 and I never was. She never "overeat" or overindulged in any foods, yet she just continued to grow, in spite of being active and eating healthfully. I'm convinced there's a genetic factor at work and not just because of my sister.
I was in public school with a boy who was absolutely huge (at age 12/13, he must have weighed 250 - 300 lbs.) Same story. He tried to be active with the rest of us, playing basketball, soccer, etc. He didn't eat excessively or the "wrong" things.
I'm sure some people do bring on their own obesity (I'm working on it) but the university's approach is just wrong.
What's next: passing drug / medication / nutrition tests to graduate? It's supposed to be a university, not a kindergarten.

A kinesiology graduate student who works in the area of eating disorders has very reliably told me that in the case of obesity, 50% of obese people are genetically obese, and 50% are not. 50% genetic. That's huge. And yet in our society - as in JC's blog - it's treated as an individual responsibility (and JC falls for the 'epidemic' language as well, which many sociologists of health dispute). BMI is also problematic.

University Counselling and Healtha nd Wellness centres currently offer healthy living seminars and stress management workshops for students on a voluntary basis. That's where they should stay.

JC may also want to clarify his title. Universities do 'teach the body' - you'll find 'body' courses in history, sociology, literature, women's studies, cultural studies, communications.....the body - as a lived entity and cultural construct - is all the rage. All the more reason to critique the simplistic approach taken by Lincoln University.

I feel sorry for a lot of fat people. I eat and eat and never gain weight. Just the other day I ate an entire pizza for dinner and it was no problem!

One of the above posters was right: this issue is really more about public health interventionism. People have made your life and body their business. It started with smoking, went to trans fats and now is becoming more and more absurd. Where will it end?

I'm not sure that this course would have any affect, especially at the university level. Everyone knows that fast food is bad for you, and people make the choice to still eat it, myself included. Most people are obese because they decide to be. There are some who can't control it, and some people have faster metabolisms, but in the end it is really no ones responsibility but your own. You are the one going to be shortening your own life.

Truly Trudy is *right on the money*. Lincoln's approach is simple-minded and punitive; it would only serve to further marginalize these kids, and single them out as 'special', in a negative way.

What universities should consider is a mandatory and verifiable phys ed requirement-- for everybody-- in order for them to maintain good academic standing. It would apply to everyone, fat and thin, fit and unfit, young and old. Hell, include the faculty in there too.

I know that exercise alone does not always result in weight loss, but once students develop basic fitness, they'll feel better about themselves, and have an easier time making good food choices. They'll bitch and moan about the requirement, but they'll also feel that they're part of a bigger student body where everybody is treated the same.

Absolutely not! This would be akin to a police state. A university is a place of academic learning and that is all. Students are graded on their academic work only. They should not be judged for how they look or how healthy they are. Deciding to lose weight or pursue a healthy lifestyle is a personal choice...because our bodies are our own business. It is not something that the state should mandate or a university should insist upon.
Sure, I think health promotion is a good idea. Provide people with information and encourage healthy behaviour. Giving students free access to the gym is an example of this.
Providing healthy food in the cafeteria is also something that can be done.

A university can't be serving pizzas, burgers and coke (as many universities do in large supply) and then say, well, if you're too fat, you won't graduate. That's just hypocrisy and frankly meddling where it is not acceptable.

Robert Clift wrote: "... in order to graduate, students had to swim several lengths of the pool. That's always stuck with me for some reason. Perhaps because were it an SFU requirement, I would have never graduated."

-----------------------
Sounds like a ridiculous requirement.
What if a student is disabled and couldn't do it? What if the person just couldn't swim or had no co-ordination? Universities are places of academic learning...they have no business making further stipulations. If you do your academic work and pass the required courses, you graduate.

Universities should be able to teach the body? Only IF and it is a huge IF they had a viable program. The present one, based on Pyramid guide food folly is universal, one-fits-all, wrong, promoting obesity.( recently have thrown a new word CARBOHYDRITIS into the debate).
Education in Nazi Germany included one hour of phys ed per day. Entering the water at the pool from a 3 meter board a requirement to pass.
Current programs must be halted, they are wrong, irresponsible, fattening.
It will be up to dietitians and nutritionists to convert to teaching "Living Smart" from hartsmartliving.com.
to make people comfortable with themselves.

There is no real evidence that obesity actually causes health problems. Obesity is correlated with health problems, because certain unhealthy behaviours tend to increase weight. But we hear about "needing to lose ten pounds" far more often than "needing to start walking every day"—a result of a simplistic, culturally convenient focus on weight over health. It's so much easier to feel "appropriately" smug or ashamed when moral virtue (synonymous with thinness) can be measured by one attribute that can be determined just by sight. "North American society faces an obesity problem"—no, it faces a sedentary lifestyle problem and a nutrition problem, and dumbing those problems down into "obesity" only makes it harder to solve them.

If you want to make students healthier, make it harder for them to park their cars. Oh, that's right! we can't have good (i.e., thin) people suffering any inconvenience, even though the causal link between exercise and health is far better established than between thinness and health. We just need to blame those "fat", "ugly" people whose Beelzebub Monster Index is higher than the magic number.

Obesity is a huge problem, and I doubt more than a small percentage of cases of genetic. Fifty years ago there were very few obese people--have genetics changed so much in the past few decades? When I started teaching in the mid 1970s, maybe one student out of thirty was seriously overweight; now it seems to be more one out of four. The denialists aren't doing these kids any good by telling them they don't have a real problem.

That said, it would be pretty draconian deny students who have met the academic requirements their degrees because they have terrible health habits. If the university is genuinely concerned it could turn to other means such as trying to make healthier food more available and affordable in the cafeterias (where a supersized order of fries costs considerably less than a salad).

very simple .... take in less calories than you burn in a day and you will not be fat.....so called "genetic" is just fooling yourself - perhaps these people are sleep-eating?

Let's scrutinize each and every prospective graduate for junk food and exercising habits, as well as tobacco, drug and alcohol usage; anti-social behaviour; recycling efforts; racist and other discriminatory tendencies; and any other lifestyle and attitude issues that might adversely affect themselves or society, and subject all offenders to long-term surveillance, mind-control courses, and rigorous testing prior to allowing them to graduate.

Remind you of anything?

Universities are for adults, not kids who don't know how to control themselves. Obesity should be tackled way before students enroll in university. University is about independence of mind and intellectual autonomy. Expecting students to "have to" take any course is fundamentally unsound and against what a university should be doing.

Yes!! Go for it! I completely agree with that excellent measure.
Fat people eat too much and are too lazy, simple as that; and only feel sorry for themselves. STOP EATING for crying out loud - you fatsies are costing us taxpayers too much money for future health care!

A university is a place of independent intellectual enquiry and should encourage the absolute autonomy of the individual. The mind-body connection, the relationship between physical health and health care costs,
exploration of the psychology of eating, the impact of obesity on longevity and productivity -- all of that can be fairly studied within the context of an appropriate academic discipline. But a compulsory march to skinniness is an absurd and reprehensible intrusion on the individual, and any student forced to participate should rebel, and sue the university for violating fundamental human rights.

I agree and while their at it, they should have a personal appearance course for ugly people and so forth. This is absurd.

David! Surely you cannot believe a university is a place for absolute personal autonomy?! WOW!!! So they can behave and put forward anything they want?

I understand the idea, but I think it's far too late to think you can forcefully change someone's habits in university. At this point it would just be embarrassing for those involved. Plus, is the point of university to get in shape or to learn? I WISH I had time to stay as active as I'd like to in uni, and I don't even have to work as much as some do. An idea like this would work better during childhood years when it may actually make a positive difference. I remember clearly learning about that stupid food pyramid, and about all the minimum servings I should have in a day, I sure don't remember anybody mentioning a maximum. Revamp nutrition courses in junior, teach kids how to exercise properly in middle school, then if they still get fat, oh well.

When I became a student at the University of Toronto in 1963 there was a requirement that all first year students had to take phys-ed. (I took fencing and played volleyball). There was also a requirement that all first year students had to take a swimming test. Anyone who failed the test was required to take swimming as their phys-ed course. As far as I recall, this requirement was simply accepted and in fact most people felt that the swimming requirement was a good life /lifesaving skill to have.

I don't see how a course would help. They'd still be fat at the end of it and it's unlikely the course would have any impact down the road. What needs to be done is pretty obvious, eat less, and in that, eat less fats and sugars. Do at least 45 minutes of strenous activity each day. But it's like telling people they have to spend less money than they earn. Easy to say, not so easy to do. Perhaps all the students in financial trouble should be forced to take courses. Then there are the people who are not good at relationships or who are abusing drugs and alcohol. Why should they be allowed to graduate without attempting to deal with these problems. The solution for all of these personal issues has to come from inside. A course with someone droning on about fruits and vegetables isn't going to help.

The universities are no longer harbingers of "thought". They are indoctrination centers. Eligibility by body type reflects the thinking of such superficial intelligence ... idiocy on a grand scale, that it [should] be an insult to all Canadian students attending Canadian Universities. If reduced funding requires that a restriction of the number of eligible candidates be enacted and given that our universities have become a proclivity of international opportunity for new indoctrination ... please don't legitimize this 'new selection process' as anything but another "affirmative action" program to undermine Canadian access to Canadian Universities.

"Much like academic requirements requiring students to diversify their electives among different subjects, students who refused to take the course could not graduate regardless of their overall academic performance." Time for the author of this article to take a mandatory remedial writing course.

However, once the university decides to teach the body, the howls of protest are heard around the world.

That's because one doesn't "teach" the body; one trains it. And therein lies the problem: university isn't a dog show.

This is so patronizing and wrong. Make all the students do it if you want, but singling out obese students is cruel. These are people who already face huge societal discrimination for what is often an addiction to food. And food is something you can't go cold turkey on-you have to eat. Most people have problems of some sort, whether it be addiction, anxiety, depression or just plain insecurity, but obese people are the scapegoats for everyone's judgment because their problem manifests itself physically. What do you want to bet the people who came up with this idea secretly hate themselves? I'm imagining Annette Bening's character in 'American Beauty' or the role of the blond wife in 'Spanglish.'

I have been studying food since 1970.
Simply put, food is chemistry, what you put into your body, is separated,storing
parts, using parts and eliminating parts.
Anyone heard of Atkins? Atkins is the best, buy the book, do the 14 day diet, change in what you eat, what you combine chemically etc. Any educated person who wants respect needs to equip themselves with a healthy body, thus a healthy mind. I cannot respect anyone who does not respect themselves. So, do not eat fast food, no white bread, white rice, sugar etc. Yeast in white bread is what creates the hunger pangs and cravings, so stop feeding the yeast by using raw garlic and oil of oregano daily and you will drop weight easily and on Atkins 14
day diet, you will lose plenty of excess weight. I have helped plenty of people. It is true, after 14 days , have a cheat day, then start again if you want to.
Remember, once you change forever what you put into your body, it is remarkably easy to lose weight.Honest just call me I will help, 250-785-8887.

Maybe universities should focus more on changing the ethics of company leaders that go out into the marketplace and produce products that are unhealthy for people. You are the ones that are teaching these monsters to produce and market this junk - all at a profit of course - aren't you? I'd be much happier knowing that my obese friend was eating too much of something healthy than that they were cramming their bodies with high sodium high sugar garbage that wasn't satisfying their natural appetite in the first place

Why wait until graduation? Just don't admit fat folks into University in the first place.

I think Universities have the right to put what ever coarse the would like into their curriculum. But it should be for all students, and if they are going to make this apart of the curriculum then they better do a better job of making the healthy choices available on campus. The campus convenience store should have fresh fruit and veg, the snack bars should have more healthy options like sandwiches and less fried foods. This is the only way you are going to help people change.

And while we're at spending money to make fat people thin, and stupid people smarter, how about making lousy professors into good teachers. There is a plethora of bad lecturers and lazy profs in academia and let's face it when we attend university it is to get an education and not to lose weight. Let's fix the problem of poor quality university teaching before we address anything else.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but universities are the ones causing a big chunk of obesity in the first place. Ever heard of the freshman 15? The problem is two fold: 1)only unhealthy options available on campus (pizza, fries etc.), not to mention meal plans are often MANDATORY for those in residence and 2)overworked students with needing ever-rising marks for grad school or post-grad jobs choosing between studying and going for a run. Now, instead of addressing one of the above causes, they're putting MORE pressure on students? Give me a break.

From an earlier poster:

"Maybe universities should focus more on changing the ethics of company leaders that go out into the marketplace and produce products that are unhealthy for people. You are the ones that are teaching these monsters to produce and market this junk - all at a profit of course - aren't you?"

This post and the Lincoln U proposal have this assumption in common: if there is a social problem, it's somehow been caused by a problem with the university curriculum. Or lazy profs who can't teach. Baloney.

There are words for what that poll purposes, it's called tyranny, fascism etc. I will never agree to live in a Nanny Nation that punishs people for body weight, skin color, hair color eye color etc.

I'd rather our universities be de-marxisized, they don't teach our youth they indoctoranted them into a cult mindset of victimhood wrapped in socialism.

While universities; desire to promote a healthy lifestyle is laudable, witholding the graduation of obese students who do not take a lifestyle course is discrimination, pure and simple.

Universities would never dare withold graduation from students who engage in risky sports activities (e.g. rock climbing; hang gliding), risky sexual behavior, or have a poor driving record or off-campus speeding tickets.

There is enough information in the public domain for young adults to make lifestyle choices without universities enforcing their selective definition of a "healthy life style" and reinforcing public prejudices.

What's next? Shock therapy for students who are manic depressive?

Here's the thing:

I've spent the last seven years on university campuses, and the one thing I certainly haven't noticed is an epidemic of obesity. Very much the opposite actually.

what? shutup.

As a university educator, I'm revolted to see a Canadian post-secondary student using his exceptional public platform to promote misinformation about the (largely mythical) 'obesity epidemic', and condoning Lincoln University's hatred and discrimination against an already oppressed group.

Oh, calm yourselves down, people. This is a good thing. North America is fat. Face it: if you can't manage your weight, explain to me why I should trust your judgement on anything else? Congrats, you have a Master's. Too bad you won't live long enough to contribute to the world at large. My only problem with this is that it's not addressing the underweight students. THOSE guys have some form of excuse when it comes to medical conditions. If you 'just can't lose the weight', stop eating. Your body's designed to live off your fat for a few days.

Just because you are fit on the outside does not mean you are fit on the inside! A Healthy Living course is an amazing opportunity to address all of the problems associated with the typical North American society: the cardiovascular impact of smoking, urban planning to make cities more 'walking friendly', the marketing of sugar to our children...the list is endless!

Students are not forced to go there. The university can make the curriculum whatever they want.

They can't switch up the program for students already enrolled though. That's not fair.

If you tell students when they apply that they will have to take this course if they have a BMI over 30, then it's totally fair.

If you wait until first year university you have waited way too long. The time to teach all these things is in lower elementary school. Reading, writing and arithmetic should all take second place to teaching living skills and the knowledge needed for that.

While I can understand the good intentions of this requirement, I don't believe it is a university's role to control anything about students other than their grades. Universities should not be in the business of babysitting young adults (you're not a child when you graduate at 21). Additionally, is the university going to mandate that an obese retiree taking courses for fun must take this course as well?

Meera is right, and I think Coleman's entry should be deleted by moderators.

Now here's something that was just taken from his blog: "•I'm at McDonald's again. It's a great study spot, probably shouldn't be tweeting and spreading the word. " (http://www.joeycoleman.ca/)

Joey: try using a dictionary (you know what that is, right?) and look up the word "hypocrite"

Absolutely not. All this will do is add pressure to large students in an already stressful time. It will not achieve anything either because the patterns that have led them to a certain lifestyle are mostly formed.

We can't force people to be a certain way. People may not like the sloth associated with modern living but it is a personal decision and in a free society we must respect peoples rights.

If I enroll in engineering, why should I be forced to take a silly course like that? Teach healthy eating in regular schools and leave universities for learning the material in the degree you're paying an outrageous amount of money to get.

Most of the posters are forgetting that Universities are not there to make you Job-ready, but are there to make you Life-ready, with a thirst for learning. Physical exercise HAS to be part of all education at any level. I totally agree that a requirement of basic physical activity can be part of a graduation requirement, lets make exeptions for those people who have a handicap. The obese people with a genetic disposition can fall into category, those who need a lifestyle change, drum it in to them

That's a fantastic idea! Why not institute drug tests prior to matriculating as well? We could also design a mini-Olympics including esoteric subjects, some physical challenges the students must complete prior to graduating. The universities could then sell the concept to networks as a new reality TV show, thus increasing their funding base and "raising awareness". The real question is if that's within a university's mandate to actually consider. Probably not.

We create a yardstick of what we believe is right and we notice some people do not measure up. Well, the role of the university to to foster higher learning, period.

Should we institute manditory social skills training for all those absent-minded professors too?

Perhaps the university should be concentrating on the problem of alcoholism in their university environment. Since the Brits are amongst the highest consumers of alcohol in the world, curbing drinking would probably have more benefit.

I agree with those who say that such courses should be mandatory for all. In fact, they should also be mandatory in high school. I think a bit of the problem is that, during the heady women's lib days of the 70s and early 80s, most schools cancelled home economics for girls, when they should have extended it to boys. Today, people are more clueless about nutrition than ever and if we don't do something about it, we will all pay a price.

To the people who want to put obesity down to genes, you will have to explain why rates of obesity have exploded over the past few decades. If genes were the major cauase, the obesity rates should remain relatively stable, regardless of what else is happening in society, yet that is clearly not what has happened. That doesn't mean that obesity is never genetic, just that genetic causes are very much the exception, rather than the rule.

And, I don't doubt that some people gain weight more easily than others; but for the vast majority of such people, that means that they need to be somewhat more carefull to exercise and control their food intake. It does not mean that they have no choice other than to become obese.

I have a sibling who is now about 50-60 lbs overweight, yet at the age of 28 carried no excess baggage at all. My sibling clearly gains weight more easily than me (but also eats/drinks more and exercises less) and it is, therefore, also clear that obesity is not the only possible outcome.

Teach the body? Universities and colleges in our country no doubt sculpt the minds and engage the creative thought processes of our nations student body but as a graduate of both the University and College programs I don't believe in the practicality of this program. Student life is one filled with stresses. Financially your strapped and getting another job just eats at your time and causes those ever looming deadlines to come closer and closer until eventually your in panic mode. For the vast majority of students there living on there own for the first time and we don't always make the best dinner combinations but we have to fuel our body and mind with food. Our paticular choice of food seems to be quick to make and unfortunatley, unhealthy to eat. If you want to solve this problem, I don;t suggest taking a course before graduating is going to help. If anything, I strongly believe that the entire post-secondary mentality (which comes from the students, parents, professors, the institution and the government) has to lessen the outside stresses so our post-secondary students can concentrate on academics and not finding another part time job so they can meagerly afford to attend school.

I think idea works if it were a requirement for the entire student population. This would then not isolate obesity as the only major health problem facing the population (although it is a major one). Many people may fall into the healthy BMI category but have an atrocious lifestyle in terms of healthy, active living. And many people have absolutely no clue as to the basics of nutrition. For example, while out for sushi with some girlfriends one of my good friends declared "I just love rice, you can eat it forever and you will never get fat". This is a university graduate speaking...I almost smacked her.