.
They were planning to start a new life in a new country but Rowan Trezise, age 33, has been told by the government of New Zealand that she and her husband may have to look elsewhere for a place to live, because she is too fat to be allowed into the country.
Although both husband and wife were too fat for admittance when they first applied Mr. Trezise, a submarine cable specialist who was once a member of the British Army, has managed to shed two inches from his waistline thereby meeting the standards set for a work visa.
Mrs. Trezise however has not met the goal set for her and is therefore barred.
The couple were informed that New Zealand bars overweight people because of the potential burden they pose to the national health care system. According to New Zealand Robyn Toomath, spokesman of “Fight the Obesity Epidemic” a New Zealand organization dealing with the problems posed by overweight people:
“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.”
New Zealand’s Immigration Service has not said how many people have been bared from entering the country due to their weight but according to the Emigrate New Zealand website that number is fairly high. Unless Rowan Trezise can shed the weight by Christmas the couple say they will abandon their plans to relocate to New Zealand.
Source: Digital Journal Link posted by Drew. Filed under Weird World News
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:44 pm
New Zealand is God! They’re helping this woman by actually telling her she’s making herself unhealthy. Fat is not who you are, nor is it a personality. It’s a health hazard. You don’t see people promoting meth as part of their identity.
Fat people: Lose weight or GTFO! (Honestly, just lose the weight)
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Too awesome. *bowing to New Zealand* Totally agree with ‘Eln’.
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
excellent idea.. this is what we should also do in usa.. bravo!
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Right on! Start with the fatties, then move on to the stupid.
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Fat people: Go be fat somewhere else.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
It worries me that even in this age of fascism people still think they can applaud the oppression of others if those others are sufficiently unpopular. There isn’t a living human who is perfect, and I would rather share my country with someone who is a bit heavier than with any number of self-righteous trolls.
If on the other hand they refused admittance to people who can’t write a coherent sentence, I might be a bit more impressed.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:20 am
we’re a small country and sinking is a serious problem.
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:29 am
This is a good idea.
It should also apply to stupid people.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
She’s not just a bit heavy, she’s obese. It’s already a big problem in NZ with the existing population, the health system is not coping as it is. If people aren’t willing to take reasonable care of themselves why should any government health system take on that responsibility? Why should the taxpayers foot the bill? They say what her husband’s qualifications are, but not hers - Is she even going to be working and paying taxes to support the health system that she is surely going to be getting something back from?
I’m amazed they are actually doing it… but I applaud them. To get NZ residency you need to pass a physical - if someone has a physical condition or illness or disease that is going to be putting an extra burden on the health system they won’t be allowed in either. Fair enough.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Fat people should be forced into fat camps until they learn how to not be fat. A year would be sufficient to effectively, permanently change their diets and exercising habits.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Kiwi’s rock.I wouldn’t let people who may be a drain on the health system in either.
Fat illegals are destroying the U.S. medical system,left and right.
Gust google “illegal immigrant diabetes” or “Latino juvenile diabetes”.
Normal healthy people are not fat!
September 9th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Their bias against weight in the name of keeping out potential health problems only holds water if they also refuse admittance to those with other predispositions; for example, those with a family history of cancer. While being overweight can lead to health problems, those who are thin are not immune to “being a drain on medical resources”.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Oppression and safety are two different things. I’m sure the person charged with denying them a visa didnt laugh and scoff and tell them, “Can’t live here, try Fatsville two islands over fatty mcfatterson” i applaud the courage it takes to step up and make the move to start making obese people do something about it. being 350lbs and sitting around and doing NOTHING about it is the SAME thing as having cancer and smoking a pack a day. its not a lifestyle choice (most of the time) and its not a race. you cant just eat a salad, run a mile, and not be black. the world needs more rationality and less sensitivity sometimes.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:07 am
The comments here sicken me. I’ve never been so disgusted with my fellow man than now. All of you being judgmental about overweight people would be screaming your heads off about racism or sexism, but its just fine to judge someone on their weight. If they were doing blood tests and denying anyone who had thyroid problems or AIDS you’d be up in arms. What a bunch of hypocritical self serving jackasses.
There are a lot of things that are a huge drain on the medical system, drinkers, smokers, people with high occurrence of familial heart disease, people with high occurrence of familial cancer, etc.
You sicken me.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Oh, golly gee whiz! What a sweet idea! Let’s just kick those fatties right out of the country. Oh, wait…they’re in the other countries now? Well we CAN’T have that. I know! Why don’t we slaughter them in gas chambers and concentration camps? Obviously fat people are the cause of all the nations’ problems and if we kill them all of our problems will go away! After all, nobody likes to get along with people who are different from them. That is just such a lot of unnecessary hard work. No, better to punish different/smart/worthy/kind people for being who they are and completely forget about any problems/imperfections that WE have.
Epilogue:
Unfortunately, the Defeat the Fatties program didn’t work because ‘average’ people also get heart disease, diabetes, and the like. Maybe we should have made our health care system better instead?
September 12th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Great, now they’ll just come to America. We take anyone.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:58 am
That’s awful. Really — That’s a bit too extreme for my taste.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Fat people don’t come to America fat. Regular-sized people come to America and then quickly become fat because the typical American diet makes them so. If this lady moved to New Zealand, she would probably lose weight… Actually, she would do well health-wise to move to Okinawa, where a diet high in fiber and vegetables keeps cancer and heart disease low. If you really want to fix the cost of health, make EVERYONE vegetarian and required 1 - 2 hours of exercise each day.
September 13th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
this is honestly an outrage. check your facts on the so-called ‘obesity epidemic’. many people are obese whose fat content is just fine. i’m so sick of living with the fear-mongering of individuals who are afraid to look different and have been convinced that if you are obese you will die of a disease right away. numerous studies have shown the diet of significantly overweight people does not differ in caloric intake from people with slimmer waistlines. the people preaching that fat people need to slim down probably just ate at wendy’s earlier today but are nursing their superiority because they look like what society wants them to look like.
check the facts on obesity do not just eat up what the media tells you.
oh by the way, you can be 25 pounds overweight and be completely healthy.
September 13th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
there’s also this assumption by most of these commenters, and most of american culture that fat people just sit around and do nothing all day. oh, the ignorance.
September 13th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
the ideas are layered here, arent they? if relative healthiness is the criterion for an admissions policy, then of course smokers would be excluded right? i wonder how many of those above insightful commenters saying ‘keep out them dumb ones’ are doing so with a cigarette in their mouths. if money for health care is the basis, then why not just figure peoples taxes accordingly…add 10% for the obese, another 10% for smokers, another 10 for drinkers, if you cant prove you exercise three times a week, high cholesterol? add more, add more, and so on. that would simply put the burden of real heath care on those who always must bear it- the poor. with enough money you could enter on your deathbed. and what about people with extraordinary abilities? could an alfred hitchcock or a pavarotti get in, fat as they were?. and what about that ultimate disease, the one everyone, everyone gets and will need care for, ageing? statistically mostly the old get sick, mostly the young dont. maybe we shouldnt admit anyone over 21. and sooner or later we will ask for the ultimate ID where health is concerned, a DNA sample please…we’ll look it over and see what cards your family has dealt you and we’ll let you know. none of these are completely wrong ideas, but the rejection of obese people draws our suspicion because it is so susceptible to a kind of “healthier than thou” oneupmanship. what about the anorexically-bulemically thin model whom we’ll call ‘beautiful’? beautiful as a corpse. will the bad old lie “you cant be too rich or too thin” let her in?
September 13th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
To all of you people crying “Fascism!” please think about it. While some people are fat due to a thyroid condition or some other medical reason beyond their control, most fat people are fat because they eat too much, or just eat too little of the right foods. If they want to live an unhealthy lifestyle then that’s their choice. The couple trying to gain entry into NZ are NOT citizens, so why should NZ’s health care system foot the bill for the couple’s unhealthy lifestyle. THEY have a choice on whether or not to be fat , so the choice is theirs to make.To paraphrase Shakespeare,”To be…(FAT), or not to be…(FAT). That is their question.” I myself am 40 lbs overweight from 4 months of inactivity due to a back injury sustained in a car accident. I now am able to work out 1 hour a day 4 days a week in order to lose the weight. It’s my choice to be healthy.
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
as a response to people saying that smokers and drinkers should not be let in note that you pay extra taxes on booze and smokes you dont pay extra taxes on food if a smoker smokes 1 pack a day for 20-30 years and then gets sick he payd 10 times the price of his actual health care in the taxes of his cigarettes also problems with drinking and booze happen after a long while of using and rarely too whilst people who are too fat are being a healh problem almost the time
September 13th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I realize that perhaps taking action against obesity can seem like a logical step.
But banning people from your country isnt so much fighting obesity as it is giving the problem to someone else.
Which they are allowed to do, it just bugs me that they act like they are doing the world a favour.
September 13th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Why is it ok not to judge people on weight? If they can’t go out and run every day or work out its their fault. I’m in high school and I manage to balance extreme amounts of homework due to AP classes, a social life, parties, good grades, and working out at least 3 days week for at least 2 hrs, if I can do it why can’t they? Eating Wendy’s has nothing to do with it also, if you eat Wendy’s or McDonald’s that doesn’t guarantee you’ll be fat; as long as you actually exercise then you are fine. And whoever said that that some people are overweight but have a reasonable fat content is retarded. If you read the article it didn’t really talk about their weight but their waist-line the people you speak of are body builders who are measured by the faulty BMI scale. The people in this article are boasting about 16%+ body fat, a typical professional runner has about 8% and a normal waist line. Also, I personally love this idea and every country should do this, except for thyroid patients, but they are general exceptions.
September 13th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
i’m disgusted by these comments. i doubt a one of you have ever been obese, or even overweight in your life. you cry “make them lose weight!”, as if losing 100+ lbs is just something you do over the weekend. i find it sickening that a country would actively kick someone OUT and KEEP them out for being obese. what, do they round up everyone over 150lbs and just dump them into the ocean and laugh when they sink? i wonder if the whole point in this is to have the sick satisfaction of saying “haha my country’s skinnier than your’s!”? this has changed my perception of new zealand, from a pretty cool place to a pretentious better-than-thou island resort.
September 14th, 2008 at 1:48 am
I work as a hospital patient transporter, and I have moved my fair share of obese people. In my area there seems to be plenty of them making their way into the hospital. Not only are they a health risk to themselves, I also run a huge risk of damaging my own back moving them. Not to mention that only obese people wind up in the extremely difficult to move beds, stuff that even without a patient requires at least two people to move. These people are less willing to get up and walk to stretchers as well, meaning that either they go in a heavy (heavier) bed, or a team of people have to slide them manually.
Obesity these days is mostly a result of lifestyle choices, not of disease or “glandular problems.” People have more access to unhealthy food, and don’t have a desire to get up and move around as much. Obesity is as much of a choice as smoking is. You can chose to quit being fat, but it’s just easier to stay that way.
Lastly, Augustus, if you lived in a fascist world, well… you wouldn’t be anymore. You’d have been put to death for speaking against the government.
September 15th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
well america doesnt provide free healthcare so they shouldnt do this in america unless they plan on doing something about our healthcare
September 16th, 2008 at 9:47 am
ah man, good article regardless. but still sad..
September 16th, 2008 at 9:48 am
i agree with everyone, but who moves to new zealand? Lewis Black had a great joke. “If the people of New Zealand want to be a part of our world, they should jump in the water and push the country closer.”
September 16th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Don’t be so sensitive, people. Not just every country, but any organization, club, company, shop etc. can decide who to let in. I wanted to be a jet pilot but I can’t because of my back. So what? I can take an other job and they can go back to England. Anyways, I am not at all sick, I am not overweight but they just wouldn’t let me live in the US for example. Just, because. So stop whining.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
WOW, so thin people never get sick, have surgery, go to the doctor or hospital or die. Golly, that’s great but someone should tell all those people like Jim Fixx to get up out of their graves because only fat people get sick and die and get all those average and thin folks up and out of those hospital. They must just be there for lack of anything else to do. Huh, how about that
September 16th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Shadus, you’re an idiot, you can’t compare discrimination towards how fat someone is to racism and sexism. You can change being fat, but you can’t change your race, and sex, well there’s only 1 type of people who would do that… But also if you’re saying that they are the same thing, then I think you’re trying to say being a minority is unhealthy.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
I agree with this stance by NZ - everyone knows their sheep are only rated to 90kg’s of back end pressure. The real issue here isn’t the strain it places on the Vets rather than the National Health Care system.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Of course New Zealand requires immigrants to be able to write a cohesive sentence and also screens for other medical conditions such as AIDs mentioned above. In fact there is a whole range of criteria that applicants must meet most of to be allowed to migrate, except in extreme circumstances such as refugee status and a reasonable amount of migrants are accepted every year.
However its important to note that this is a residency application, I’m sure the lady would be welcome to visit on a short stay visa, and she has been given time to remedy the situation.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:04 am
The comments disgust me even more than the article.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
difference between this & for example cancer/aids, is that they can exercise and come to a healthy weight so they have the ability to change
where as cancer/aids they do not necessarily have the ability to rid themselves of there problem, so i can’t see NZ denying them.
so the difference here is they can help themselves.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
For goodness sake, put Lipstick on her! Push the dang table away!! And walk around the thing.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
ok to everyone who assumes that this is suedo-fascism or unfair, think of it like this, NZ’s health care system is so socialized that if you have a problem you pay NOTHING taxes support keeping you healthy, with that in mind by allowing people who are at a particular health risk (fat people) they are telling all the taxpayers to pay the way of someone who hasnt been willing to do enough to lose weight, how is that fair at all that people can expect to be a cost to everyone but as soon as someone says they dont want to pay for someones completely avoidable health risk everyone gets up in arms.
Also for the record you wont get kicked out of New Zealand if you are fat citizens can be fat already but they just dont allow you to immigrate, like eln says its like discriminating against drug users.
In closing you have no right to live in new Zealand when you apply for citizenship you are asking politely to live there.
September 21st, 2008 at 4:00 pm
The NZ government are doing her a favour keeping her out. NZ and it’s natives are dull and boring and nobody in their right mind would want to live there. I saw plenty of fat people while I was there, some of them were grotesque and looked like their diet consisted of lard washed down with cooking oil. Go somewhere else lady and live among normal people.
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:13 am
First they came for the overweight and I did nothing because I wasn’t overweight. Then they came for the handicapped and again I did nothing because I wasn’t handicapped. Then they came for me and by then it was too late.
Not everyone who is overweight got there by eating, some medicines cause weight gain even if you eat according to proper nutrition. Discrimination is objectifying the person rather than seeing the value of the person underneath, this is usually caused by fear that the discriminator may become or is the same as the discriminated against.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:34 am
That is funny.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:00 am
heh, yeah woohoo hate on New Zealand because they set a standard for their country! it’s their choice, and they’re not taking a “holier than thou” approach to it. New Zealand is not pretentious. that’s stupid. it’s THEIR FREAKING COUNTRY! if you don’t like it, go to America and mind your own business! In America, you can do what you want and no one will stop you. be fat, I don’t care. In New Zealand, they care. SO DON’T GO.
October 6th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
@Nuclear Ants: Hyperbole will get you nowhere. They weren’t kicked out of the country, they were told they couldn’t become a citizen of it until they lost some weight. The end result was that the duo couldn’t move to that one country, and if they’re really intent on leaving England, they still have like 200 others to choose from. Or, as the husband demonstrated, they could lose some weight. Nobody’s getting tossed in a gas chamber, nobody is becoming the victim of a biased law, and nobody is being forced to leave their homes. The language you used demonstrates delusions of entitlement and a complete lack of perspective.
October 8th, 2008 at 11:03 am
The headline is quite misleading. She wasn’t kicked out of NZ. She just wasn’t allowed in. And she wasn’t allowed in after she didn’t meet the weight loss goal that she was told she had to meet. Hm, sounds like they gave her a fair chance to me. You would think if she seriously wanted to live there she would jump through a few hoops in order to do it. And if she really did try hard to lose it and just didn’t make it, i really do hope that she continues trying so that she can lose the necessary weight by the 25th of december.
and everyone who is writing the sarcastic comments about how skinny people never get diabetes or other diseases - It’s common knowledge that people who are overweight are more likely to have health problems. Stop the standard american diet of lots of protein and carbs. It will make you fat. I’d be interested in knowing how many vegans get diabetes.
I found this article to be very informative and plan to avoid becoming obese so that one day i can live in the great country of New Zealand
October 9th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Someone tell me - what happens if she loses the weight, becomes a NZ citizen, then gains it back afterwards? Are they going to kick her out then?
This is a short-sighted “solution” to their health care problems. It doesn’t address the problem at all.
October 9th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Those who think this is wrong are jut fat themselves. They read this and thought, “so I can’t move there. This is wrong.” Being too fat is a health issue and it is physics thats says if you are lazy and eat too much you’ll be fat, fact. Fact, if you eat right and become active you’ll lose weight and boost your ability to burn fat. Fact, if you can rapidly burn fat you can eat at “Wendy’s” and still be thin. So Pengie and the rest of the people who think this is wrong need to put down that fatty food in your hand, pick up the candybar wrappers thrown arround you, put the warm gallon of Icy Tea in the fridge, wash the pile of plates on your desk, lock the fridge, swallow the key and work out until you get the key back. Then reapeat the process until you are no longer a burden of your healthcare provider.
October 12th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Is that why Peter Jackson looks like Golum now?
October 14th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I’m pretty much IN LOVE WITH THIS! I’m SO moving to New Zealand!
October 19th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Are they going to ban smokers whilst still sell Cigs across the counter?
Are they going to ban fat people whilst still having Mcdonalds in to there Country.
How did Burger king get there Visa ?
October 19th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I’m fat, but it’s because I have PCOS. I eat healthier than almost all of my skinny friends but I still can’t lose weight (at least very fast). I exercise 4 times a week too. For some people it seriously isn’t a choice, and that sucks.
October 20th, 2008 at 11:44 am
All right, let’s assume it would be easy for this woman to lose the weight. She loses the weight, she can live in the country of her choice. Easy. Now what about the people who physically cannot lose the weight? Medical anomalies, people with little to no range of motion?
This is sad, and so very clearly just a ploy by New Zealand to have a country which can boast its own “healthy citizens.” Overweight people are hardly a “significant drain” on health care systems. If being overweight is such an extreme health risk, by not letting her in New Zealand is essentially saying they don’t care enough to provide health care to those who obviously require it because it’s “too expensive.”
That’s just sick.
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:22 am
From NZ’s immigration website:
Acceptable standard of health
Applicants for visas and permits for New Zealand must have
an acceptable standard of health. We consider you to have an
acceptable standard of health if you are:
unlikely to be a danger to public health
•
unlikely to impose significant costs or demands on
•
New Zealand’s health services or special education services
able to perform the functions for which you have been
•
granted entry.
If you intend to give birth in New Zealand you are not considered
to have an acceptable standard of health.
Unless you believe that NZ has an agenda against pregnant women, you can see that they are NOT only excluding obese people, but anyone who will be a burden on their health system.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Some of you people are ridiculous. Being fat is an effect of a crappy lifestyle and laziness the majority of the time. The very select few that have very slow metabolisms or any other disorder that would otherwise make them fat are acceptable. People who take no initiative to better themselves by trimming up a little bit and become obese make me sick. I promise myself I would never let that happen to me and why should anyone else. At least have a little self respect and do things that take minimal effort to try to reduce body weight such as eating a salad rather than a burger at a fast food restaurant or not supersizing your meal. It is a very serious issue that is like a plague all around the world and this is a good start to getting people back on the right track at least physical health-wise. Some might say that this is a bit harsh but its the truth and obese people should hear what other people think about them. I think NZ has made a bold move, but one that will help bring the world’s increasingly common obesity problem towards a solution.
October 26th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Obesity a huge world wide issue, and the New Zealand government is putting steps in place to try and manage it. Obese people are proportionally higher to suffer health related issues because of their weight. Why should the burden be on the New Zealand tax payer to risk having to support her own laziness to look after herself?
October 26th, 2008 at 10:09 am
chill out, it’s their country, they can reject fat people if they want to…
NZ don’t want fatties hogging up their hospitals, they got enough fatties of their own…
November 13th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I love this story. There is no minority out there lower than the fat woman. A fat woman and a skinny one could tell me the exact same thing and I would not take the fat one seriously. I would think she was just thinking of food.