Problem 

The Boy Scouts of America (Scouts BSA) uses an outdated methodology to determine the eligibility of Scouts to participate in physically demanding high adventure events, such as Philmont Scout Ranch. Utilizing one Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine whether Scouts meet the physical fitness requirements for high adventure events is no longer appropriate since it is not a credible representation of physical health for all youth, including girls and athlete (see my research at the bottom). 

Proposed Solution 

Change the Scouts BSA Medical Form Part C, entitled “Pre-Participation Physicals Examiner’s Certification” to include an open block in which a health care provider can attest to the physical fitness of the Scout, permitting the Scout to participate based on their overall health of the child, unconstrained by the outdated BMI criteria.

Why I Care

I value Scouts BSA and have been a volunteer for Scouts since 2011. I have two boys that continue to be Scouts. This past summer, my son’s Patrol from Troop 149 in Arlington, VA, part of the National Capital Area Council, were scheduled to attend a high adventure camp at the Philmont Scout Ranch. One child in my son’s Patrol was excluded participating from in this camp, despite being an extremely physically fit youth, solely based on his BMI.

The Scout pictured above is a power lifter and football player; he has hiked 25+ miles in one day, carried the 80 pound food pack at Northern Tier, and remains on his high school Leader Board for squatting 460 pounds and 1K lbs Board for being able to bench press 195 lbs, 480 lbs dead lift and 460 lbs squat (1,135 pounds in all). This is just one example, though. There are many more that would be discriminated against because of their build and the use of the BMI as a primary measure of fitness.

Scouting continues to evolve, significantly expanding the populations and communities served by this amazing program. Since this evolution empowers Scouts BSA to serve all youth seeking to participate, they also must update their policies to be fully inclusive.

Why you should care

Having an adult, white, male BMI be a primary criteria for determining the physical fitness of a Scout is a discriminatory policy and must be changed. If you believe in Scout values such as those taught in the merit badge 'Citizenship in Society', as well as the oath (physically strong) and law (a scout is loyal), then you should…. 

Sign this petition to support changing the Scouts BSA medical form Part C: Pre-Participation Physicals Examiner’s Certification to include a block for a physician to recommend inclusion based on overall health of the child, uninhibited by the outdated BMI. 

Here's the research on this opinion:

 1.  Doctors do not use BMI to determine the overall health of an individual, and neither should Scouts BSA. Although BMI can be an indicator of a larger problem, other measures of health and fitnessare far more accurate indicators of poor health.
 2.  The BMI is a biased standard. Its 19th century data set ONLY used white, European men as “the average” and its cut points are rooted in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s actuary tables that established “how weight might play a role in a man's likelihood of dying.” To develop their first tables in 1942, they used data from 4 million white, adult, male policyholders from 1911-35 to assess “ideal” weight, in 1959 “desirable” weight, and in 1983 “height to weight” tables became the BMI. The data behind this standard is only European men at a time in history when men in Europe were about (hyperlink to world data) 4 in. shorter and more lean (less muscle) than today
 3.  BMI is not an accurate indicator of a young person’s overall health, much less their ability to participate in physically rigorous activities. It fails to take into account the actual composition (muscle vs. fat) of an individual. BMI assumes all individuals have the same muscle:fat ratios and corresponding health that can be inferred by such ratio. We all know that muscle weighs more than fat, though. The same height and weight will be the same BMI, but each body composition and the health of that Scout differs due to numerous factors including age, gender and race, according to “Exercise Physiology” by William D. McArdle, et al. 
 4.  America’s demographic fabric has dramatically shifted over the past century. Research shows that people tend to have different body compositions based on their heritage. The World Health Organization released adjusted cut points for people on Asian descent, who have a higher risk of certain metabolic diseases at lower BMI. Female BMI levels also different than what is printed in Part C of Scout BSA medical form.