Canadian University Removes Weight Scale from Campus Gym; Can You Guess Why?

Sure you can. Because a scale reading that tells you you���re overweight - which, if you are, is not likely some surprise revealed to you only because you stepped on a scale ��� may exert an unfortunate effect on your self-esteem, according to Carleton University of Ottawa.

A write-up over at Fox News about the school���s move to rid the campus gym of the evil device details that in place of where the scale once stood is now a sign that describes the school���s decision as one that is ���in keeping with current fitness and social trends.���

Social trends, maybe; fitness trends? Hardly.

A manager of the facility, Bruce Marshall, says that making weight the focus of one���s exercise goals can be a bad thing.

���We don���t believe being fixated on weight has any positive effect on your health and well-being,��� says Marshall. ���The body is an amazing machine and even when we are dieting and training it will often find a homeostasis at a certain weight.���

���It takes weeks, even months to make a permanent change in your weight. So why obsess about it?���

Right, except in this case, where the scale has been removed entirely, a student can���t even make periodic checks of his or her weight at the gym. Marshall tries to defend the gym���s decision by taking the assumptive position that everyone who steps on a scale is ���fixated��� on their weight, and that they ���obsess��� over it. Not true. People typically like to step on scale once in a while to see where they���re at. That said, if one chooses to ���obsess��� over their weight, shouldn���t that be up to them?

Not according to the folks at Carleton College, apparently.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large