British woman banned from entering New Zealand because she is too fat
Quote:
A British woman planning to start a new life with her husband in New Zealand has been banned from entering the country - because she is too fat.
Rowan Trezise, 33, has been left behind in England while her husband Richie, 35, has already made the move down under leaving her desperately trying to lose weight.
When the couple first tried to gain entry to the country they were told that they were both overweight and were a potential burden on the health care system.
Mr Trezise managed to shed two inches from his sizeable waistline to fulfil criteria set out as part of his visa application to work as a technician in the country.
His wife however has had no such luck and faces a desperate battle to shed the pounds before Christmas, at which point the couple say they will abandon their overseas plans.
New Zealand officials assess people's weight using Body Mass Index which measures fat by comparing the height and weight of an individual.
Mr Trezise, a submarine cable specialist and former member of the army said his BMI was measured at 42 making him well over the limit of 25 which is regarded as overweight.
"My doctor laughed at me. He said he'd never seen anything more ridiculous in his whole life," he said.
"He said not every overweight person is unhealthy or unfit. The idea was that we were going to change our lifestyle totally and get outdoors and on mountain bikes and all sorts of activities."
Robyn Toomath, a spokesman for New Zealand's Fight the Obesity Epidemic and an endocrinologist said that obese people should not be victimised, but agreed with the restrictions.
"The immigration department can't afford to import people who are going to be a significant drain on our health resources.
"You can see the logic in assessing if there is a significant health cost associated with this individual and that would be a reason for them not coming in."
While the New Zealand Immigration Service could not say how many peolpe had been refused entry on similar grounds, the Emigrate New Zealand website revealed that many people had been banned for being obese.
Looks like New Zealand wears the "No Fat Chicks" T-shirt. 
(Though, on a serious note, this is another reason why I hate mandatory health care managed by the government. Are there any private medical centers in New Zealand?)
Geez...I never heard of that. Discrimination, much? But yea seriously speaking...that's just...I don't know. Never heard of that. I mean I heard some very large people are charged for multiple airline seats and whatnot, and that remotely makes sense. This though...erm...
I wonder what my BMI is...
According to BMI I'm unhealthfully underweight. o.o
I wonder if New Zealand would throw me out fo rbeing too thin.
I approve of this. It's a good idea. It's not like it's impossible to loose weight.
and if it is? ownd!
It's not. Just stop shoveling food into your face. :3
~Tobe
I can't say I disagree with the reasoning behind the restriction, but what I do have a problem with is the use of BMI to enforce it. BMI is primarily a statistical tool and not terribly useful in the case of individual assessment of health. It disregards far too many important factors such as muscle mass (muscle is actually denser than fat, so heavily muscled people often have disproportionately high BMIs for their health), bone density and even the person's body shape. About the only thing useful about BMI for clinical analysis is it's quick and easy to do.
Edit: of course looking at the article it's a relatively safe assumption that none of the caveats I just mentionned apply to the couple in the article.
No skin off my nose, I don't ever plan to go to New Zealand anyway. Nothing good has ever come from New Zealand.
Lord of the Rings movies and The Flight of the Conchords are the two things that come to mind =0
And as for the article, I dunno. I guess it's unfair.
Another version I read (possibly on the BBC) said the guy was a rugby player, so the caveats might have applied to him, at least.
DW
a rugby player will always have a high BMI thingie, as they've so much muscle and bodymass. it doesn't mean they're overweight or unhealthy. oo;
the silly thing just takes your weight and devides it by your hight or something.. it doesn't take into account of muscle and so on.
this mean they'll stop disabled people from entering the country too? they're a drain on healthcare too. how about those that smoke? 
this mean they'll stop disabled people from entering the country too? they're a drain on healthcare too. how about those that smoke?
Well, a smoker can always stop smoking, despite great difficulty. Same with an obese person.
But if daddy lost his left leg fighting the 'kong, he can't very well grow it back, can he?
This made me lol
I had to do the BMI junk in the air force, and it's not hard at all. People, especially americans, are pretty lazy, even I fall into that category, but im not overweight at all. BMI, as nuchtos said, is a bit unfair sometimes, and isn't the most accurate way to measure someone's health. sure they might be "over-weight" but that does not mean that they are fat. Of course, it isn't hard NOT to be fat, just don't be lazy and maybe go outside or something.
I remember living on a street where all the kids were outside and nobody was fat, and as they got older, like out of high school, some got fatter because they stopped being active. It's basically saying "stop being lazy go outside." thats an easier way to not be fat.
Plus I think New Zealand is a pretty place that wants pretty people, lol. Hey, not a bad idea i guess. When you're country is that small, you can manage people like that. here in america... dream on.
Do they have intelligence requirements, too?
No, I do'nt think so.
What Nuch said.
Unless someone has Prader-Willi syndrome or a similar condition, obesity's generally self-inflicted as soon as you're old enough to be responsible for your own diet (my mother's overweight, and it wasn't until I was in my teens that I slimmed down), and changing whatever afflicted it on you works. Like any other addiction, it requires consciously not doing something.
Hell yeah, I wish that were implemented all over the place! It makes 100% sense to me. Yes, it's government run, but at least they keep it in tight check.
Don't like it? Don't go there... or at least, shed the pounds before you try.
I thought there were no such thing as fat British people.
Haha Wes. No such thing as fat Brits hahah. That makes me giggle.
You also forgot to mention Black Sheep (the horror film) as the third best thing to come out of New Zealand.
Britain actually has one of the worst obesity problems in Europe. Three years ago, it was just under one fifth of the population that were that heavy - now, if I'm remembering correctly, one in three or four school age children are.
Oh. I was just making a funny at the expense of Americans.
They can do that? Sounds kinda ridiculous. O___o
Might visit there some day to enjoy the nature and natural beauty, but moving wouldn't be optional.
