Only in America: Heavy surveillance

A new school program to electronically monitor obese students —and more in our collection of strange revelations about the nation

Heavy surveillance
(Image credit: Tim Pannell/Corbis)

A New York school district is combating obesity by making overweight students wear electronic activity monitors. The devices measure heart rate, physical movement, and sleeping patterns, so Bay Shore school officials can track whether fat students are physically active. "A program like this should only be voluntary," said Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union. "There are key privacy interests at play."

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