I spent many years working as a commercial diver, with health standards above the average rec diver... If you didn't fit the bill, you were told plain and simple and you didn't dive. For me the instructor sets the ground rules, followed by setting the right example. Devon do you disagree with that? I wasn't looking to start a fight...
No, my questions were genuine - because the two situations (admittance to training & peer judgement/rebuke) are very different.
As an instructor, I would have serious professional qualms about admitting an obviously unfit diver onto pro-level training. I don't mean having an elitist 'quasi-athletic' threshold - but simply that there
are written training standards to be maintained regarding professionalism and role-modelling.
However, I personally draw the line at peer judgement/rebuke. Another professionals adherence to standards of professionalism, role-modelling and even health/safety related issues with fitness/obesity simply aren't my concern. Such actions would be drifting towards a 'scuba police' attitude, whereby your views would likely cause alienation from target of your opinion. The relative professionalism of an instructor is judged where it most counts - by potential students. Failings in that respect would/could/should provide direct feedback to the individual concerned in respect to the uptake of their courses.
I do understand your concerns from a student safety perspective. An unfit, incapable instructor cannot provide the same level of care to a student due to their physical limitations. Agencies
could regulate that - with re-testing etc. Governmental/regulatory authorities could regulate that (as happens in the UK/Europe). I just don't see any relevance for peer-group regulation of that.
Having said that... if one instructor witnessed any safety risks with another instructor... actual safety 'violations'.... then they could be reported to the certifying agency that the individual belongs to. The safety issue is what would matter,
not the potential causes of the issue (obesity/unfit etc).
I am sure that the commercial diving community has a different perspective on this. In the UK, recreational diving instructors have to pass the same commercial diving medicals (as dictated by our Health&Safety legislations). Despite that, I haven't noticed any tendency among UK instructors to be fitter, healthier or more athletic than those recreational instructors in other locations who are not subject to the same standards.