Should Anorexic Men Or Women Be Allowed In The Gym?

GreenAura
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 09:06 am: [report]

This reminds me of people that sue fast food chains for making them fat. When are people going to take responsibility for their own actions?? It is in no way the gyms responsibility to monitor this woman’s health (unless of course she passes out while working out there).  How is the gym supposed to determine that she isn’t just naturally skinny?  Maybe they should also tell overweight people that they can’t workout too then.  Ridiculous!!

saramarie
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 09:27 am: [report]

I’m not sure how telling overweight people they can’t work out would be beneficial? In this instance there is someone who is blantantly ignoring their own health and putting themselves in danger. Someone who is overweight and exercising would be trying to remove themselves from that danger, right? In my opinion, people who sue fast food chains are only doing so to make a quick buck since the companies generally settle out of court to lessen any type of PR impact, not because they’re actually concerned about their own health.

Of course a gym could never deny one person membership and not another based on their own assumptions. They would have to require some sort of doctor’s note from everyone stating they are in good health in order to join…not only would it keep them legally clear of any discrimination claims, but we could get people to their yearly doctor check ups like we should be doing on our own anyway =)

In a perfect world everyone would take responsibility for their own actions…unfortunately there are some people who don’t realize there’s a problem they need to take responsibility for in the first place, which is why we have interventions…

tabby
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 09:42 am: [report]

As a person who used to have an eating disorder, I can assure you that no amount of telling them that they can’t join a gym will save them. They will simply do crunches in their bedroom all night long. A gym can’t really discriminate between someone who they think may have an eating disorder and who may not. Also, what about those people who do have an ED but are not yet so stick thin as to arouse suspicion in strangers? How do we refuse them entrance “for their own good”? I am very leery of any organization telling me what I can or cannot do “for my own good”. Cigarettes are proven bad for you, yet adults are allowed to smoke. Not eating is proven to be bad for you, but you cannot force a person to eat. It is presumptuous to think that gyms could or should be responsible for others bad choices. Adults are responsible for their own bad choices, not organizations or governments or religions. If, as an individual, you want to speak up that you are worried about someone else’s health, then by all means do so. Just understand that an anorexic won’t hear you unless he or she is ready to.

joyy
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 09:45 am: [report]

Maybe a better step towards preventing this would be to include a screening mechanism on gym membership forms.  You know, kind of like how most dr’s office medical history paperwork questions include one on depression, even if your visit has nothing to do with mental illness.

A gym might also position itself as focused on the health of its members and offer a free quick session or check-in with a trainer/nutritionist/someone that is really just a simple conversation on whatever the client might be comfortable sharing about their overall health, stress, fitness activities, and progress towards goals.

*sam*
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 09:45 am: [report]

while I like saramarie’s idea a/b making everyone bring a doctor’s note before joining a gym, it’s incredibly unrealistic. people without health insurance may not be able to afford the trip to the doctor for the note, and if they’re overweight and truly want to make the effort to change, then it’s certainly not fair to them to keep them from doing so.

that being said, I don’t think it’s a gym’s responsibility to monitor their patrons’ health. I just don’t think it’s feasible. if it’s blatantly obvious that an individual is not taking care of him or herself, and clearly not in the mental state to do so, then it is the responsibility of those around that person to step in. not the managers at their gym, or the clerk at the drugstore counter selling them laxatives—but that person’s friends, family, co-workers, etc. we can’t be morally responsible for everyone, but we can certainly (and morally should) intervene when we see those closest to us suffering.

sadie
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 09:57 am: [report]

I think a customer’s health is none of the gym’s business. If my gym tried to invade my privacy like that I’d take my monthly membership payments elsewhere. Adults are responsible for their own decisions. Bars don’t ask if you have a liver disease before they sell you a beer. McDonald’s won’t refuse to serve you if you have a heart condition and weigh 600 lbs. I don’t see why a gym should refuse to serve a customer with an eating disorder.

Most gyms do offer a free training and nutrition counseling session to their customers. If the customers prefer not to take them up on that it’s their right to do so.

We can’t babysit the actions of every adult. People are going to do what they want and we can’t all act like their moms and try to stop them.

GreenAura
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 10:05 am: [report]

@ saramarie: my point was that gyms cannot discriminate against only one group of people because of what their outward appearance may be. 

If they are denying overly skinny people access, then it would only make sense to deny overweight people access too since overweight people could pose just as much of a threat on the machines because they could possibly over-exert their heart and have a heart attack.  So now, only people who are in good health can exercise.  Screw everyone else. (please note the sarcasm!)

The logic behind all of this is ridiculous.

CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 10:12 am: [report]

@sadie: What is the chance of an alcoholic dying in a bar…I’d say much less than a obese or un-healthily skinny person dying in a gym. Gyms have to cover their asses or their liability will go through the roof.

CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 10:18 am: [report]

That being said, I’ve almost passed out during a workout, but I blame low blood sugar, and or not enough calories.

sadie
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 10:28 am: [report]

@cheese, by that logic obese people or anorexics or anyone else with a life threatening illness should not patronize any business since they are more likely to drop dead there than a healthy person and the owner could be blamed. If an anorexic or obese person dies in the gym it’s the anorexia or obesity that killed them, not the gym.

Coral
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 10:30 am: [report]

I have grown up in a family where my dad was always working out and always competing in athletic events. In fact, he had run a couple of marathons throughout the years. But my point is that many women who run marathons (long distance runners) are VERY thin—are they healthy?? That’s a complicated question. Many female long distance runners weigh 100 pounds. But to further explain, there are probably plenty of women who are involved in some sort of athletics/sports who are on the very thin side because of the training needed, etc. Not everyone in a gym who is on the thin side has an eating disorder. One of the worst things to do is to approach a stranger and tell them that they need help, to gain weight, or to stop exercising. As much as some people need help, one cannot know for sure whether a person truly has a problem—and it’s really not their place to be judging and stepping in.

Riley
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 10:32 am: [report]

@GreenAura - See, you are getting better at the interweb sarcasms.

Let them work out, if they refuse to seek appropriate care or clearance to work out by their doctor then why should the gym babysit them?  Stop handholding every moron that thinks eating 100 calories a day and hopping on a treadmill for 45 mins is a good idea.  Same goes for the 7,000 calorie a day obese person.  Learn to take care of yourself.

CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 10:35 am: [report]

@sadie: No they have the right under law as they are not allowed to be discriminated against. But if they were to drop dead there you know for sure that their family is going to be right there suing their asses off immediately. I believe in personal responsibility….even as it so happens when it comes to litigious behavior, but it’s still going to happen.

saramarie
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 12:19 pm: [report]

Oh of course asking a gym to pre-screen everyone before allowing them to join is completely unrealistic! And of course a gym, or any other organization shouldn’t be held responsible for anyone’s actions…if you want to stuff your face and then act surprised when you can’t fit through a door, I have absolutely no sympathy for you…but to @CheeeeEEEEse’s point, you best believe the family would sue the pants off of that gym should anything happen to them while they were there. A pre-screening could save the gyms’ butts, not necessarily those of their patrons.

@sadie Bars certainly don’t ask if you have a liver disease, but if you are obviously intoxicated to the point where you could do harm to yourself (or others) you bet they’ll cut you off from having any more.

@greenaura I was agreeing with your point, which is why I offed the doctor’s note as really the only solution to denying membership based on “health”. Judging based on outward appearances would never work since “fat” and “skinny” are incredibly subjective terms. And really, couldn’t ANYONE overexert themselves when exercising, regardless of weight/health/etc.?

Frederica Bimble
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 01:29 pm: [report]

GreenAura:  There is a difference between “naturally skinny” which is not what this article is referring to. 

There’s one in every gym, mind - an anorexic who gets in.  The one at my gym looks like an Auschwitz victim and my heart sank when I saw her with no clothes.  Her buttocks were shaped like a triangle from where the bones were just under the skin.  You could count ALL of her ribs and her eyes were the size of saucers.  Her hair had fallen out and she was strategically using a head scarf to cover up the hair loss. She also had the paranoia and denial indicative of the illness.  She was asked to leave a class and complained about the instructor - telling the receptionist that she was thrown out because “they were all staring at me because I’m fat.”  No, one can never confuse “just being skinny” with a tragic illness such as this. 
I had this very discussion with some of the trainers at my gym and their “hands are tied” is what I was told.  I found out about the surreal belief this woman had about her size when I told the receptionist that the woman was quite ill.  The receptionist then told me her comment.  She also said it made her want to cry when that woman came in.  This woman spent 6 hours at the gym in the morning, left and then came back for about 2 more hours.
  The trainers say, “there’s one in every gym.”  They’re right.  You can identify them not only by their pathologically thin bodies but also by how long they’re in the gym and by the “far away” look they all seem to have.

GreenAura
wrote on July 29 2009 @ 01:40 pm: [report]

@ Frederica:  My point was that the gym cannot be held responsible for someone else’s actions.  Should the gym blatantly ask them if they have an eating disorder before they join??  Many people that have eating disorders are in denial about their behavior and as such, when asked, would lie and say they were just naturally skinny.  What can the gym do with that? Nothing. When I signed a contract for my gym, I had to check a box and sign that I was in proper health to use the facility.  So, if I collapsed during a workout, the gym was in no way responsible (as they shouldn’t be).

And just to fully argue the point with you, I have a friend who is 6’1” and weighs no more than 120 pounds. Her arms and legs are like toothpicks, and her ribs show profusely. People constantly accuse her of being anorexic or bulimic when in actuality, she packs away more food than a football playing teenage boy (and no, she doesn’t throw it up!)   Just sayin’!

sparklestar
wrote on July 30 2009 @ 01:39 am: [report]

My gym has a health questionnaire before you join. Loads of skinny women work out in my gym (it’s an expensive one that I have a student membership for!) and nobody has stopped them.

How can you stop somebody from working out? They’d just go for runs in their neighbourhood. I’d rather they were inside a building near to trained first aiders than out in some woods which would be even worse if they fainted.

belongsomewhere
wrote on August 2 2009 @ 07:30 pm: [report]

@sparklestar, I agree with you—I think it’s best that people who are likely to get injured or faint are in a controlled environment where, if something happens, there is a better chance the person will get help in time.