Boy Scouts ban obese kids from Jamboree

ren_ascent

Yeah, because obese kids need /more/ shaming and /fewer/ opportunities for outdoor fun and exercise, right?! BOOOO. And if you're going to claim it's about fitness, then be honest about it. Ban any Scout with epilepsy or asthma or diabetes or a severe allergy from coming to camp. After all, one of them could keel over on a trail somewhere too, right?
Poor form, gentlemen. Poor form.

(as an aside, though, I'm very happy to see so much thoughtful criticism on here. Go, MFP!)

My sentiments exactly.

ryry_

Just to play devil's advocate, it is quite possible this has nothing to do with obesity so much as fear of litigation. Fat kid breaks his leg, parents sue boy scouts for negligence.

Now, someone gets hurts and parents try to sue, they have a better case to show a prudent measures were taken. Everyone sues everyone now a days, and especially those with deep pockets. So they have to protect themselves from liability.

Skinny people can break bones too.

Agreed. But a lawyer can make a better case for an obese one, saying it was not safe for someone overweight to be playing. To add to that even if a skinny kid breaks a leg or whatever, the fact that they took steps is now part of their defense.

moosegt35

Boy Scouts count respect among their twelve core values. It’s time to live up to it.

That is ridiculous. Even if they struggled it's not like their hearts would explode out of their chests. It gives them a challenge and motivates them to try harder. That would be so insulting!

I've never been a small person -- always larger than most of my girl scouting friends. But I was in the girl scouts for 11 years and not once was something so outrageous as discouraging physical fitness applied to our activities.

I don't know how intense the Jamboree is -- but if I ever have a son, after what they have displayed as of late, I will be sure to never let him be a Boy Scout. They really are beginning to insult their own values. Scouting is supposed to be about building confidence in yourself and building friendships with others. Learning life skills and being physically active is one of those values.

Blech. I'm so disgusted

This isn't excluding "fat" kids. A BMI of 40 is morbidly obese. So yes, their hearts actually could explode out of their chest. For a boy scout age kid to have a BMI of 40 they would basically have to be as big around as they are tall or even bigger. It's probably dangerous for them to do the activity.

downsizinghoss

How big would a kid have to be to have a BMI over 40?

morbidly obese. Like dangerously overweight.

Most of the time, true. But a blanket ban just on attending?

In 1987 I weighed 280 pounds at 5"10". I played football and wrestled. I ran 4 miles every day before practice and went on to walk on to division 1 college football team. That summer before my senior year, I went to a High Adventure camp and backpacked 50 miles in the N.C. mountains.

Based on those numbers, my BMI was 41.5. I would have been banned from a freaking jamboree.

I definitely needed to lose some weight, but it in no way hindered me from participating and usually performing above average.

Mustang_Susie

Sounds like they may have liability concerns?
Parents send their overweight boy, he gets injured or has some other health issue and then they sue.

I agree that all kids need to be encouraged to be as physically active as possible.
it would seem that a physical examination and release from a doctor, along with signing the standard release, would be sufficient to avoid legal issues.
But I'm certainly no lawyer.

moosegt35

...but BMI?!? C'mon...there is (IMHO) no less meaningful popular metric to determine fitness than BMI. Self-selecting seems like a much better approach. I would even rather see some kind of actual physical ability testing instead of BMI (although will acknowledge that this has its issues too).

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There is precious little so useless than BMI being randomly used around society when it has no purpose whatsoever. There is not a competitive bodybuilder in the history of bodybuilding who would not be classified as morbidly obese according to the BMI standards. Arnold Schwarzenegger was about a BMI of 32-33 when he was winning all his titles. Really? THAT is morbidly obese?

There have been people here on MFP asking for advice on how to lose weight quickly because their company's health plan has credits or added costs based on BMI. There are people in my office who are classified as average wheight and I'm overweight according to BMI. Looking at us, everyone would laugh at that. BMI is simply too flawed an instrument for any use whatsoever.

Reminds me of the saying we have in my office: "Measure with micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with chainsaw".

In other words. Stupid.

I haven't seen a lot of boy scout body builders. KIDS are not packing around 50 pounds of extra muscle.

kristen49233

Soon to follow....Boy Scout uniforms will be available at Abercrombie stores only.

moosegt35

How big would a kid have to be to have a BMI over 40?

morbidly obese. Like dangerously overweight.

Most of the time, true. But a blanket ban just on attending?

In 1987 I weighed 280 pounds at 5"10". I played football and wrestled. I ran 4 miles every day before practice and went on to walk on to division 1 college football team. That summer before my senior year, I went to a High Adventure camp and backpacked 50 miles in the N.C. mountains.

Based on those numbers, my BMI was 41.5. I would have been banned from a freaking jamboree.

I definitely needed to lose some weight, but it in no way hindered me from participating and usually performing above average.

Apples don't look or taste like oranges bro. You are comparing an adult athlete to a boy scout kid. Kids in boyscouts aren't built like athletes, they are built like kids.

downsizinghoss

How big would a kid have to be to have a BMI over 40?

morbidly obese. Like dangerously overweight.

Most of the time, true. But a blanket ban just on attending?

In 1987 I weighed 280 pounds at 5"10". I played football and wrestled. I ran 4 miles every day before practice and went on to walk on to division 1 college football team. That summer before my senior year, I went to a High Adventure camp and backpacked 50 miles in the N.C. mountains.

Based on those numbers, my BMI was 41.5. I would have been banned from a freaking jamboree.

I definitely needed to lose some weight, but it in no way hindered me from participating and usually performing above average.

Apples don't look or taste like oranges bro. You are comparing an adult athlete to a boy scout kid. Kids in boyscouts aren't built like athletes, they are built like kids.

That was when I was 17. I was the senior patrol leader for my troop. bro.

LoggingForLife

Soon to follow....Boy Scout uniforms will be available at Abercrombie stores only.

Ha!

tedrickp

n/m - Hoss addressed it

RGv2

How big would a kid have to be to have a BMI over 40?

morbidly obese. Like dangerously overweight.

Most of the time, true. But a blanket ban just on attending?

In 1987 I weighed 280 pounds at 5"10". I played football and wrestled. I ran 4 miles every day before practice and went on to walk on to division 1 college football team. That summer before my senior year, I went to a High Adventure camp and backpacked 50 miles in the N.C. mountains.

Based on those numbers, my BMI was 41.5. I would have been banned from a freaking jamboree.

I definitely needed to lose some weight, but it in no way hindered me from participating and usually performing above average.

At what age?

TyTy76

How big would a kid have to be to have a BMI over 40?

morbidly obese. Like dangerously overweight.

Most of the time, true. But a blanket ban just on attending?

In 1987 I weighed 280 pounds at 5"10". I played football and wrestled. I ran 4 miles every day before practice and went on to walk on to division 1 college football team. That summer before my senior year, I went to a High Adventure camp and backpacked 50 miles in the N.C. mountains.

Based on those numbers, my BMI was 41.5. I would have been banned from a freaking jamboree.

I definitely needed to lose some weight, but it in no way hindered me from participating and usually performing above average.

At what age?

17

tedrickp

This isn't excluding "fat" kids. A BMI of 40 is morbidly obese. So yes, their hearts actually could explode out of their chest. For a boy scout age kid to have a BMI of 40 they would basically have to be as big around as they are tall or even bigger. It's probably dangerous for them to do the activity.

How many obese children have heart attacks? Im genuinely curious - i didn't know there was an epidemic of morbidly obese children having their chests explode.

ninerbuff

You know... they could have just created two separate programs with different levels of physical demand. Then, the kids could opt in to the program they wanted to perform, get a special badge for whichever they complete, and then the more physically demanding program would be something the kids could train and strive for the next year.

THIS. BSA should be about building confidence in youths, not excluding them for participating in it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

fbmandy55

another reason to add to the list of why the boy scouts of america is an absolutely worthless **** organization now.

This. Thought I'm glad they now allow gay boys to join. As a result a local church of ours dropped their charter but was picked right back up by another local church!

My son will never be part of scouts. Not the same as when I was a kid.

hannamarie88

This isn't excluding "fat" kids. A BMI of 40 is morbidly obese. So yes, their hearts actually could explode out of their chest. For a boy scout age kid to have a BMI of 40 they would basically have to be as big around as they are tall or even bigger. It's probably dangerous for them to do the activity.

How many obese children have heart attacks? Im genuinely curious - i didn't know there was an epidemic of morbidly obese children having their chests explode.

Yeah. I was being facetious with my original comment... Boy Scout ages are from 7-18 years old. So this isn't all little kids. And Venturing levels of BSA is men AND women ages 14-21.

This description doesn't seem like a grueling exercise competition...

"Imagine 50,000 Scouts, Venturers, volunteers, and staff from all over the country, all gathered together for one big celebration of Scouting. Held once every four years, the national jamboree is a chance to camp out with friends, meet new friends, try high-adventure activities, learn new skills, and enjoy the outdoors. Over 10 days, there are exhibits, stadium shows with entertainment, opportunities to work on merit badges — there's something for everybody." (Source: https://summit.scouting.org/en/Jamboree2013/Pages/default.aspx)

moosegt35

How big would a kid have to be to have a BMI over 40?

morbidly obese. Like dangerously overweight.

Most of the time, true. But a blanket ban just on attending?

In 1987 I weighed 280 pounds at 5"10". I played football and wrestled. I ran 4 miles every day before practice and went on to walk on to division 1 college football team. That summer before my senior year, I went to a High Adventure camp and backpacked 50 miles in the N.C. mountains.

Based on those numbers, my BMI was 41.5. I would have been banned from a freaking jamboree.

I definitely needed to lose some weight, but it in no way hindered me from participating and usually performing above average.

Apples don't look or taste like oranges bro. You are comparing an adult athlete to a boy scout kid. Kids in boyscouts aren't built like athletes, they are built like kids.

That was when I was 17. I was the senior patrol leader for my troop. bro.

didn't even realize you could be in scouts that late. Thought it ended at like 12.

csuhar

This is another example of well meaning, but uninformed, people doing more harm than good. If the physical challenges are really that challenging then the only reasonable way to make the determination is to require a physical fitness evaluation. BMI is going to cut out some very fit but muscular kids. That said, I don't think excluding kids from the entire event makes any sense whatsoever.

This.

If you know what's going to be done, require the scouts to have medical evaluation and clearance for the events. Just because someone isn't obese doesn't mean he's physically healthy enough to participate.

downsizinghoss

didn't even realize you could be in scouts that late. Thought it ended at like 12.

That is cub scouts. Boy Scouts doesn't even start until 11 or 12.