The boss wants to see you and weigh you

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

On CNN this morn, an article about how a company in Lincoln, Nebraska has three full-timers devoted to ‘wellness.’ The 565 employees have mandatory quarterly check-ups to measure body fat, weight and flexibility. The program has been around for 16 years and those who achieve optimum results get a company-paid trip---to climb a mountain.

(These Buddhist monks, above, pay 10 to 15 cents to weigh themselves on a bathroom scale in Phom Penh.)

Studies show that people who weigh themselves daily gain less weight. I might weigh myself at work if there was a more private scale--maybe with a discreet LCD read out instead of that sliding reader--that wasn’t crammed next to a vending machine that burps out Pop Tarts and Snickers. (Into my eager hands, of course.)

But I wouldn’t want the Los Angeles Times to make weigh-ins obligatory. It’s fascist and fatist. Not to mention the fact that with all the recent and brutal cut backs here, I think we’ve done enough corporate downsizing.

photo: Doug Niven/AFP/Getty