A British couple wanted to move to New Zealand after their wedding. They ran into one small problem, or actually it was one large problem. New Zealand told them they are too fat to immigrate to their country.
Robyn Toomath, a spokesman for New Zealand's Fight the Obesity Epidemic, said, "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."
No, I can't see that logic. Because under that rationale you would also ban people who smoke and sky dive and have unprotected sex. Are they going to be checking to see if people are using condoms during intercourse before they let them move to New Zealand? And how would they do that check exactly?
In the case of weight, they actually use Body Mass Index that compares your weight to your height and sees if you are within the prescribed limits or not. So, they physically weigh these people and tell them if they're too fat to live in the country. That's sick.
Meddling in people's private lives started with messing with smokers. I worried at the time that it would spread to other areas of our private lives where we made decisions that our companies or governments or insurers disapproved of. And now it has. This is a terrible trend and we have to make sure it's contained. So, I propose banning New Zealanders from coming here and spreading their discriminatory policies to us.
Finally, there is good news and bad news from the British couple trying to move to New Zealand. The groom lost two inches off his waistline and he has passed the health requirements. But unfortunately, his wife still hasn't made it. So she is stuck in England, still dieting.
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New Zealand Bans Woman for Being Too Fat
Posted Nov 20th 2007 10:08AM by Cenk Uygur
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16. Mary, what you describe sounds very democratic to me: the people around you are exercising their right to freedom of expression, and they are clearly expressing the fact that they HATE your cigarette smoke. Nobody stops you from doing this on your property. And obviously, nobody in America has outlawed obesity, or one-half the nation would be working exclusively to keep the other half in prison.
normanoel at 4:53PM on Nov 20th 2007
17. A country that takes a stand about imagration we need to take lessons from them
rosprmn at 6:34PM on Nov 20th 2007
18. Good for New Zealand! Any country can establish any immigration policy that it cares to. The US could stand some tightening up in the critea of our own policies. Ban whoever a nation cares to. There is no "world constitution!" Nations are free to decide who can and cannot cross their borders and enforce it at will. Good for any nation that sets a policy, be it loose or tight, and sticks to it!
Bob at 6:54PM on Nov 20th 2007
19. I think I must've hiccuped right in the middle of typing "criteria"
Bob at 6:58PM on Nov 20th 2007
20. American Corporations have just hung a sign saying, "No Fatties, No Bitching, and No Thinking." New Zealand could be experiencing an air shortage and big ladies suck up more oxygen? Soon corporations may regulate the size of breasts in the workplace? That will be a tough choice. Which one will most CEO choose? Discrimination is legal? Race was an argument on the fringes, but now the crime is going to the core of our being. How long will it be until our Corporations set up Plastic Surgery Clinics and Outpatient Liposuction? Nobody is perfect.
Cecil Jones at 7:17PM on Nov 20th 2007
21. Stop defending fat people. If God didn't hate them, he wouldn't give them so many heart attacks.
LiquidDynamite at 8:12PM on Nov 20th 2007
22. Fat people should be banned from the Earth. They eat more then their fair share and sit around on their asses.
Yabbiyum at 12:09PM on Nov 23rd 2007
23. Look, getting into a beautiful, peaceful country like New Zealand isn't easy. Their government is only taking into account what health care costs verses contributions of potential residents will be over time. They have probably found that overweight and obese people do have higher health care costs.
Many people want work in and then retire in New Zealand. Should their government take them all, regardless of their skills and their potential for costing that government more in costs than it can afford to take on?
In deciding immigration staus, their government also takes into account a person's age. They don't want a lot of sick, older people coming into their health care system just to over burden it.
This is also discrimination, but so what? They have a perfect right to decide who gets into their country. They are actually planning for their country's future health care needs and providing for their residents' current needs, two things that we Americans fail to do.
Joan Bartos at 11:44PM on Nov 20th 2007
24. Isn't New Zealand part of the British CommonWealth? It was my understanding that England's immigration problem was excerbated by common citizenship throughout the old Empire!
Robert E. Quillen at 12:01AM on Nov 21st 2007
25. As to Ms. Ramos comment what an shameful thing to say. Did you see " When we were Warriors" and base your views on that film? I bet you've never been to New Zealand. I have an am currently married to a NZ man. He is a gentle, non-alcohlic, soul.
I do not agree with the policy but guess what it's their country policy, therefore their policy decision. If you don't live there or wish to live there why comment?
M Lindo at 1:42AM on Nov 21st 2007
26. normanoel, you rock! The rest of you, except maybe a couple, are idiots. I think to myself "And these people vote!" I can only hope that a dramatic shift in YOUR diets may save us from the tyranny of your stupidity. Hah! Fat chance, if only it was that easy!
Noah at 5:29AM on Nov 21st 2007
27. Good to see someone going after the obese! It takes some of the pressure off the smokers - if only for a momoent. LOL
Don at 6:50AM on Nov 21st 2007
28. Good to see someone attacking the obese, it takes the pressure off us smokers!
Don at 6:55AM on Nov 21st 2007
29. So what do people in New Zealand do about people with family histories of heart disease or cancer? Do they ban them too? Also, the BMI is a really bad way to measure someone's ideal weight. If someone with nearly no body fat but a significant amount of muscle looks up their BMI, more than likely, they will be in the overwieght to obese catagories. Since the BMI is just a height to weight ratio it doesn't tell you anything about how healthy a person is, or how much excess body fat they have.
David at 7:53AM on Nov 21st 2007
30. The right to determine who immigrates there and who does not? Okay, but should there be a universal criteria as to what constitutes a legitimate reason? Using someone's weight as a reason seems as superficial and discriminatory as using race or religion. Certainly genetic predisposition of certain ethnic groups or cultural practices can pose as great a health risk as being overweight. What about poor people? Do they ban them also? People of lower income statistically have poorer health worldwide.
The U.S says, "Give us your poor, your tired, you huddled masses..."
New Zealand says, "Give us your rich, and don't be tired (it might mean you're sick)...and huddling probably isn't good for you either!...What? Can't you stand on your own? Geez man!! You might catch something!!"
Keith J. Mohrhoff at 7:54AM on Nov 21st 2007