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The index of body and mass is used to label people as underweight, normal, overweight, or obese.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – A gym teacher wanted to raise awareness of obesity and the health dangers it comes with. For this purpose, the physical education instructor asked her students to write a paper about BMI, calculating their own score and labeling themselves according to the results. But one teenager’s BMI homework went viral as she opposed the crude labeling method that can only lead to negative mental health effects when applied to high school students.

Tessa Embry, an Evansville teenager, decided to fight the system when she was asked to label herself as an obese person, according to her BMI score. When doing her homework, she wrote two pages about how the index of body mass is an outdated measuring instrument and how the self-esteem of students can be severely damaged if teachers continue to label them according to the results of the formula.

Embry is a curvy teenager, but certainly not an obese one. And she is not the only one to dismiss the legibility of the BMI. A study that was published a couple of months ago concluded that BMI is not an accurate measuring unit. According to that paper, more people considered healthy from their BMI score point of view suffered from afflictions than those considered overweight.

Furthermore, it seems that the outdated measuring unit can cause a person a lot of difficulties when it comes to obtaining a health insurance. Most providers still use the system and make people considered overweight or obese pay more for their insurances than individuals who have a healthy body-weight ratio.

Unfortunately, BMI is used to label people. And when it comes to labeling in high-school, things can go pretty wrong. Children, especially teenagers, are mean, and a homework that asks them to label themselves as obese or overweight can cause a lot of damage to their image when it comes to high school social interactions.

Previous studies have shown that students who suffer from a stigma are more prone to depression and suicidal thoughts than those who feel at ease in their bodies. So making a high-schooler write about the fact that he or she is obese and the health risks that this label implies can damage their self-esteem.

Luckily, the softball player chose to stand up for herself and her fellow students and write about the dangers of BMI labeling. Her BMI homework went viral after her mother posted the paper on Facebook.

Image source: Wikimedia

Kroger is supporting all of its customers, no matter the trait that makes them unique.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – A Kroger bathroom sign goes viral after the Georgia store displayed an explanation for its decision to implement a unisex bathroom. Most of the people who commented on the post supported the store’s decision and admired its initiative.

A retail food chain that offers a wide variety of services including food, gifts, pharmacy, and savings recently received a lot of attention due to a sign it posted on its unisex bathroom door.

Judging by the phrasing, it’s possible that the managers were assaulted with tons of questions or complaints about the unisex bathroom, so they decided to post a public explanation. The A4 paper taped to the bathroom door read:

“We have a unisex bathroom because sometimes gender specific toilets put others into uncomfortable situations. And since we have a lot of our friends coming to see us, we want to provide a place for our friends who are:

Dads with daughters

Moms with sons

Parents with disabled children

Those in the LGBTQ

Adults with aging parents who may be mentally or physically disabled

Thank you for helping us to provide a safe environment for everyone!”

Tonya Owens, a customer at Kroeger, saw the sign and posted a picture of her Facebook account. The caption read “Nice job Kroeger. This is from a Kroger in Athens, Ga.”

Surely enough, the post went viral. It was shared more than 88,000 times on Facebook; it gathered over 2,400 comments and 58,800 likes.

People on Twitter had the same positive reaction when the photo was shared on the social media platform. Even the official Twitter account of the retail store was flooded with overnight followers and positive reviews.

As the Kroger bathroom sign goes viral, Georgia is starting to regain popularity among the LGBTQ community and its supporters.

Recently, a legislation was submitted that would legalize discrimination against the aforementioned community. But when news of the bill was spread, Georgia officials were flooded with complaints and promises from important organizations.

For example, both NFL and Disney promised Georgia state officials that they will never conduct any sort of activity in the state if the bill is passed.

Nathaniel Deal, the governor of Georgia, vetoed the legislation after it reached him because he, too, considered it outrageous.

Upon vetoing the bill, Deal declared that Georgia is a state that supports everybody. And judging by how fast the bathroom post went viral and how many positive reviews it got, it seems that Georgia is not the discriminatory state people were led to believe.

Image source: Flickr

BMI Homework Went Viral

Kroger Bathroom Sign Goes Viral

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