Tag Archives: New York Giants

News, Politics, Government

Boy Scouts' Jamboree should include those barred due to BMI restrictions, experts say

Leave a comment

By Joshua Rhett Miller

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 told FoxNews.com 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.

“I’m sure they put a lot of thought into this and consulted with medical experts,” Bannon said. “But a BMI of 39.9 or higher is really high. The obesity rating for BMI is actually 30 or greater and in comparing them to NFL players, those NFL players are very likely to have very high muscle mass. And since BMI is a calculation of weight to height, it’s not a very good indicator for people who are athletes. These children with 39.9 or higher BMIs are probably not coming from a high muscle density.”

But severely overweight and obese Scouts should still be able to participate in some “altered” kind of competition if they are deemed unfit for the Jamboree, Bannon said.

“Unfortunately it still does exclude children due to their weight, but I’m sure they’re looking at their health and potential negative health consequences,” she said. “But maybe they could walk [the course] or do what they can and not be excluded. Anything that the Boy Scouts could do to compensate for the stigma of being excluded would be great.”

The Council on Size & Weight Discrimination said it “deplores” the Boys Scouts decision, calling it “an unfair and discriminatory policy.”

“There are boy scouts who are heavier than average but extremely fit and capable of strenuous physical activity. At the same time, it is patently absurd to assume that just because a boy is thin, that means he is capable of a three-mile hike up a mountain,” the group said in a statement.

The average NFL player would qualify for the 10-day competition, but by no means would the entire league. The average BMI for an NFL player for the 2012 season was 31.35, according to SportingCharts.com, well above the normal range of 18.5-24.9 as set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At 45.64, Michael Jasper of the New York Giants had the highest BMI last season, the website reported. The league’s average nose tackle – with a BMI of 40.50 – would also be ineligible for the Boy Scout’s …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

Articles of Interest

Will Zimmerman Face Federal Civil-Rights Charges?

Leave a comment

By Breaking News

George Zimmerman SC Will Zimmerman Face Federal Civil Rights Charges?

The not-guilty verdict in George Zimmerman’s trial for second-degree murder and manslaughter is not the end of the legal story. There are still a few court cases to pursue, including a few that may emanate from Zimmerman’s camp, such as a defamation lawsuit against NBC News for doctoring audiotapes to make Zimmerman sound like a racist. Zimmerman attorney James Beasley is quoted in the Washington Post saying his team plans to “start in earnest ASAP” on this lawsuit. Incidentally, the Post also quotes NBC’s remarkable defense of its creative video editing, issued before the verdict was handed down on Saturday:

NBC Universal Media responded to the Zimmerman complaint by noting that other media outlets played up the racial angle of Zimmerman’s deadly encounter with Trayvon Martin.

The company also noted the pivotal nature of the second-degree murder case: “[I]f Zimmerman is convicted, that fact alone will constitute substantial evidence that the destruction of his reputation is the result of his own criminal conduct, and not of the broadcasts at issue which, like countless other news reports disseminated by media entities throughout the country, reported on the underlying events.”

In other words, it’s OK for the media to lie outrageously and slander someone, provided they go on to lose at trial? It would do the deeply sick world of left-wing agenda journalism a world of good if Zimmerman sued NBC “News” into oblivion, and taught the rest of them a stern lesson, but this sort of thing usually ends in a settlement.

There’s also the high probability of a civil suit from Trayvon Martin’s family against Zimmerman. ABC News reviewed this option in a piece bizarrely entitled “George Zimmerman Could Face Civil Suits, Death Threats, Federal Prosecution.” What do you mean, “could face death threats,” ABC? The man is positively buried under them. New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz just had to apologize for venturing his opinion that “Zimmerman doesn’t last a year before the hood catches up to him.”

Read More at Human Events . By John Hayward.

Related posts:

  1. If Zimmerman’s Head Is Bloody, Charges Shouldn’t Have Been Filed The chant during the OJ trial was, “if the glove…
  2. Zimmerman Trial Over Teen’s Death Enters 5th Day SANFORD, Fla.— A neighbor of George Zimmerman who had perhaps…

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism