Obese Boy Scouts Not Allowed To Participate--Is There Another Solution To Alleged Discriminatory Practices?

Obese Boy Scouts are not allowed to participate in the National Scouts Jamboree, currently occurring with about 30,000 Boy Scouts and 7,000 adults are out in the mountains of southern West Virginia.

The Scouts are not allowed to take place if they have a BMI of 40 or above. The standard was in place last year as well.

"This policy is not meant to keep anyone out at all, and it's just to make sure that they're safe," Smith said. "We offer thousands of summer camp experiences (that) do not have this requirement."

Some see the situation as discriminatory. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, a nonprofit organization, has spoken out against the Boy Scouts' BMI policy, pointing out that they "believes that this decision promotes bias and negative attitudes and furthers the discrimination against boys of larger body size."

They asked the Boy Scouts to  "reconsider their discriminatory practices and admit camp attendees NOT based on their physical fitness, NOT based on their body size, but based on their active status as a boy scout."

The Jamboree also has special requirements for boys whos BMIs are lower than 40 but still technically obese. They must be reccoemended by a personal health care provider and given a health history and health data.

And, even if the personal health care provider gives their patient, the boy, an all-clear to participate, that doesn't mean they will be able to participate in the whole program, according to the Boy Scouts' website.

A pediatritian and CNN's Living Well expert, Jennifer Shu, called the situation discriminatory.

"Any organization can make their own rules, but as a pediatrician I feel like we should be promoting physical activity for everybody, be as inclusive as possible, and only exclude from activity if there's a physical threat to their health," she said.

The Huffington Post called the ruling "upsetting" and "shaming", pointing out that in a video about the activity, "when [the spokesperson] admits that while some heavy youth may be able to do the activities, he claims, "...it wouldn't be any fun for you or for us." Why not? I'm confused. Kids doing fun and awesome things is fun and awesome, unless they are heavy, then it's not? What message is this sending to Scouts, heavy or not?

They aslo suggest that "Scouts could incorporate different levels of challenges to be more inclusive of both fitness level and special needs." and that  "if we tell children to be active for mental and physical health, it makes sense to increase those opportunities, not limit them."