<p>Sure, Yale looks like everywhere else if everywhere else is U of Chicago, Pomona, even a lot of state flagships. It’s not just like everywhere else if everywhere else includes directional state Us and community colleges. In terms of obesity, the Ivy League population looks wildly different from what I see at the Chicago city colleges. Social capital and weight are closely tied in this country.</p>
<p>There is a connection between obesity and socioeconomic status, and a connection between educational level and obesity. (And I did just do a quick google search to confirm that.) Percentage-wise, I believe there are fewer low socioeconomic students at the elite schools than in the general population, and many elite students come from families with college and college-plus educations. So I would expect that the percentage of overweight students to be lower than in the general population (although not nonexistent). Then, throw in all the athletes, and that probably skews the numbers even more.</p>
<p>I’ve been to the Yale campus in the last few months, and there are certainly overweight students. I think it’s true that there aren’t very many morbidly obese students (if any). But there are many, many typically overweight Americans.</p>
<p>^^ I would say “no” to a letter…but copies of lab tests each year, a bone density test and an EKG should suffice for a college someone who is underweight. The unis in question aren’t targeting “normal” weight people they are targeting students who are seriously “underweight” or the equivalent of the opposite “obese”.</p>
<p>“Calling BS on the “nobody overweight at Yale” meme…Fact-check much?”</p>
<p>I am not sure if you are asking me about fact checking, but my thought is it is still worrisome that the IMPRESSION is that no one is overweight at Yale, even if it ISN’T one hunderd percent accurate. FWIW, my D is overweight, and attended a top 10 university. Certainly not Yale, but even at her top 10 school, I noticed the impact of being overweight in such a community. BTW, she was not the only overweight person on campus, but she was much less within the range of the “normal” curve.</p>
<p>I am curious if folks have theories about why aside from the poor ( and unable to afford nutitious food or time to excercise) being underepresented, obese folk might be underepresented at elite schools. I assume at least some of it has to do with a bit of community pressure. I am also guessing these kids are better at making it happen, just like they are better at most things. </p>
<p>Shrinkrap, there is a lot of prejudice against markedly overweight people – it can be subtle, but it is also pervasive. (Google the issue – it’s not hard to find info). So overweight high school students might tend to have weaker recs from their teachers and gc’s-- the idea is that people tend to associated some negative characteristics with obesity (laziness, lack of discipline) – and that gets reflected in many ways. Those biases could work against the student all through high school – perhaps the obese student is less likely to be selected for leadership positions in school EC’s, less likely to be selected or nominated by teachers for particular honors. Almost by definition, the obese student is less likely to be involved in high school sports – so there goes one potential hook for elite colleges. There’s a lot of weeding out that goes on before a student even becomes a contender for elite admission --and unfortunately, it might be a lot harder for the overweight student to run that particular gauntlet. </p>
<p>My comment about fact-checking was to point out that just because someone has been to Yale and claims not to have seen any fat students is a statement which really requires some clarification or some digging. Someone whose kid is a HS gymnast and attended a tournament at Yale-- and so they walked from the gym to their car-- may in fact not have seen anyone fat that day. </p>
<p>Kind of like accepting on faith the contention of the student who wrote this article that she is being singled out for being thin. Maybe she’s being singled out because the Master of her college asked dining services to check- and despite claiming that she eats three meals a day, her card hasn’t been swiped since Christmas. Maybe she’s being singled out because in addition to the breast lump, she’s visited health services 10 times in the last year for various concerns-- and when she opened her mouth for the nurse practitioner to see if her tonsils were inflamed, it was clear that her molars and back of her teeth are eroded, signs of repeated and frequent vomiting.</p>
<p>So these blanked statements- nobody at Yale is fat, the university is clearly persecuting this young woman- I love to see facts before the pile on.</p>
<p>Shrinkrap- I have never seen a distribution chart that shows BMI of all Yale students. But I have seen Yale students of all shapes and sizes, and am not sure that being overweight at Yale is any more traumatic than it is in life in general. (Speaking as a person with a weight problem). But any insights from the crowd would be of interest- especially if they are of a factual nature.</p>
<p>Given that the student population at Yale skews both toward youth and high SES, both groups with lower rates of obesity than the general adult population in the US, it should not be that surprising that obvious obesity is less common among students there than in the general adult population in the US.</p>
<p>Sounds like the overweight are URM at the Ivy’s … we need to change this NOW.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Personally, I don’t think I can distinguish average weight from overweight very well. Maybe a quarter to half of the people I know are actually above-average weight and I just don’t realize it. That’s certainly possible.</p></li>
<li><p>After a quick google search:</p></li>
</ol>
<p><a href=“yaleherald.com”>yaleherald.com;
<p><a href=“yaleherald.com”>yaleherald.com;
<ol>
<li>Which still doesn’t explain why there is a non-negotiable BMI standard with mandatory weigh-ins that you cannot get out of, even if you have a physician aunt who advocates for you with growth charts like in this article <a href=“yaleherald.com”>yaleherald.com;
</ol>
<p>The point is that it doesn’t matter if you have problems with your tonsils that suggest an eating disorder or show absolutely no problems at all. It’s non-negotiable. That’s what’s frustrating.</p>
<p>There are lots of non-negotiable rules at college. Some colleges still require taking gym classes. Others require a swim test before you can get a degree. Many require proof of various vaccinations before being allowed to live in a dorm. Virtually all that I know require a student to either purchase health insurance through them, or show proof of comparable coverage via a parents policy-- and you can claim all the principles you want, if you don’t have what the college considers to be adequate coverage (including major medical) they don’t allow you to enroll. </p>
<p>I’m not getting the point here.</p>
<p>Why is it frustrating? If you are underweight you are at risk. The current trend in healthcare is to manage at-risk populations. At the moment an underweight person might be “healthy” for measures other than the scale, but the point is that an underweight person is “at-risk”…as much at risk as a person over falls into the top end of the BMI charts. </p>