Educators Promote Weighing Students

[Jayhawkk]

I hope they educate people to look past the BMI in kids that have different muscle make up. They still screw that up in adults. Good idea as long as it's done with proper education.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - It's been two years since Arkansas schools started sending letters home to parents with their kids' report cards _ letters telling them if their children were fat.
Plenty of parents weren't happy. But a lot of them did something about it.


Suddenly there were more visits to the pediatrician for talks about weight problems. Fitness class attendance is up. Diet pill use by high-schoolers is down.


And more states are following Arkansas' lead, including California, Florida and Pennsylvania, which have adopted similar programs.


Dr. Karen Young, medical director for the pediatric fitness clinic at Arkansas Children's Hospital, told of a mother upset when she got word from school that her child was overweight. The mother wanted a second opinion from Young, but in the meantime, she cut sweets from the family diet and slimmed the child down before the appointment

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[rampage jackson]

I completely agree. I wouldn't have been such a little butterball as a wee lad if I were more educated, and I had parents that parented instead of trying to be my best friend.

[OCCFan023]

Interesting article. I feel that this is a great iniative to start imposing as a way to deal with the overwhelming problem of childhood obesity, but it has to be done in a certain manor. I remember as a little kid when they use to just weigh us in gym in front of people this could be damaging to younger obese kids. If it is done in a closed room and results are kept confidential I See no problem

Along with the proper procedure they need to inform the parents that if they want to do something about this they NEED to contact a license doctor. Although 6% is really nothing that is still chicldren who are being supervised by inexperienced and in most cases unknowing parents dealing with a critical thing; i mean if these are the parents that didnt see there child getting overweight without a letter do you think there qualified to manage a childs weight loss?

This should be a mandatory requirment for middle schools (and probably even high school)