Carleton University Removes Scales from Campus Gym to Promote Body Acceptance

A study of seven Android-powered fitness trackers by the security firm AV-Test showed vuln
AFP

Administrators at Carlton University have removed the bathroom scales from the campus gym, claiming that “being fixated on weight” does not “have any positive affect on your health.”

Bruce Marshall, Manager of Health and Wellness at the Canadian university, argued that an intense focus on health and dieting might be counterproductive to the well-being of students, which resulted in the removal of the scale from the university’s gym.

“We don’t believe being fixated on weight has any positive affect on your health and well-being,” Marshall told the Charlatan newspaper. “The body is an amazing machine and even when we are dieting and training it will often find a homeostasis at a certain weight.”

Carleton freshman Samar El Faki lambasted those who disagree with the decision to remove the scales as “insensitive.” “Scales are very triggering,” she said. “I think people [who disagree with taking it out] are being insensitive because they simply don’t understand. They think eating disorders are a choice when they are actually a serious illness.”

https://twitter.com/TacticsAdvanced/status/840336349274214401

Recently, community advisors at Bucknell University covered up mirrors in at least one residential hall to promote body positivity. Despite the intentions of such an initiative, some psychologists encourage patients with eating disorders to overexpose themselves to mirrors, encouraging them to work to disassociate the negative emotions they’ve conditioned themselves to feel from the act of looking in the mirror.

Tom Ciccotta is a libertarian who writes about education and social justice for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @tciccotta or email him at tciccotta@breitbart.com

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