So what do these all have in common; Walrus, Seal, Whales, Dugong, Manatee?

They are all animals, like me. They are all mammals, like me. And more importantly they are all very good in the water, they live in or around water. Like me. The other common fact is that they all have a natural defense against the cold - a healthy covering of fat.

So I mentioned this to be doctor at my last medical and it failed to even produce a slight quiver of the lips, let alone a smile.

As a dive instructor teaching recreational diving (and, what I call “Recreational Technical” diving) I have to under go an HSE (Health and Safety Executive) medical every year.

This is a UK thing. The HSE are the body that control everything that goes on in the work place that may or may not have a safety element to it. From teaching people to climb a ladder properly (apparently not as easy as you might have thought) to making sure you don’t mix chemicals just to see which ones go BANG.

Anyway, they also insist that anyone who earns a living or uses scuba diving in their work must be signed off by a doctor each and every year as being fit to dive.

Now, I don’t have a problem with this at all and the HSE do a fantastic job in ensuring we all do as we are told in this nanny state of ours.

But the HSE dive medical is the same for military divers and commercial divers who are doing a whole lot more than teaching a few kids how to sit at the bottom of a swimming pool and breath from scuba gear.

I know there is a bit more to it than this and I have been teaching scuba diving under various agencies for a while now, but if I did want to teach kids to sit at the bottom of a swimming pool and breath from a cylinder of air strapped to their back, then I would still need the HSE Medical.

Part of the medical is to ascertain how much fat you carry. In the UK the main test for this is based on your height and weight statistics, which once calculated gives you a Body Mass Index or BMI score.

Now I know you are probably saying to yourself, that I am moaning about this because I am fat - which to a certain degree is true. I could do with loosing a few pounds. But I do not look “overtly overweight” which is what my doctor put on my medical form.

But my main issue is that it does not take into account muscle mass. Using the BMI method of calculating fatness would mean that over half the England rugby team would be regarded as obese and some of the front row forwards would be morbidly obese. So would that mean they were not fit enough to dive? Although there may be some issue getting the mask strap over some of their ears.

I have played a lot of rugby and even ran the London marathon, so i reckon I am not too overweight to dive and fit enough. But I don’t wear a white coat so who am I to judge.

So take a look at this link to BMI and work out for yourself if you are overweight

So who else thinks that this is a bit of a two dimensional system being used on a three dimensional entity?

Anyway, I have another medical coming up soon so I’ll see if I am still not looking “overtly overweight”.