Weight scales have been put in the men’s and women’s changerooms at Carleton’s Athletics Centre after backlash from the removal of the scale earlier this month, according to Beth Gorham, manager of public affairs at Carleton.
Gorham said in a statement that the scale was originally removed because it was not working properly, but it had been part of a plan to push other health metrics than just weight, even before the scale’s malfunction.
“People in Athletics think that it is a very important message to send that health overall has to do with more than just weight,” Gorham said.
The original scale story gained a considerable amount of attention from North American news organizations over the past few weeks, after an article was first published in The Charlatan on March 9.
Not only was it covered by Canadian media like the CBC and the Toronto Star, it was reported on by notable news organizations south of the border as well, such as the Washington Post and Fox News, among others.
The story was also covered by right-wing media outlets such as The Rebel and Breitbart. Conservative political commentator Bill O’Reilly also spoke about the controversy on his show The O’Reilly Factor.
Gorham said she did not expect the amount of media coverage and overall backlash that sprung from the scale’s removal.
The Charlatan attempted to interview Bruce Marshall, manager of health and wellness at Athletics, for an update on the story but was told that further requests would be handled by Carleton’s media relations.
Marshall said in an interview with The Charlatan earlier this month that the choice to remove the scale was made “in keeping with current fitness and social trends.”
Ben Tancock, a fourth-year computer science student, said he disagrees with the reasoning.
“That is a bad reason because trends are not always right,” Tancock said. “There is not any trend that exists right now that requires you to withhold information from yourself.”
Tancock said although he is content with the solution of adding a scale to the changerooms, he was frustrated the issue even had to happen in the first place.
“A small minority of people with a certain ideology are constantly throwing their weight around by imposing their beliefs on everyone else, and we are getting sick and tired of it,” Tancock said.
Elizabeth Keith, a fourth-year journalism student, said she agreed with the decision to remove the scales from the gym area.
“I am all for the idea of the scales being put in the changerooms instead,” Keith said. “One of the biggest problems was that the scale was the first thing I saw every time I went to the gym, and if you are trying to avoid the scale it was nearly impossible to do so.”
Keith said she acknowledges that the scale can be a valuable fitness tool for some people.
“As long as [the scales] are out of sight of people who don’t want them, then I think it is an amazing middle ground,” she said.
Gorham said the university and students seem to be happy with the compromise.
She added although Athletics will still provide scales for use, they will continue to provide educational information on various health measurements that shift the focus away from weight.
– File photo
