I do not have children in public schools, but my opinion of 'fat letters' is that they should not be part of the school's curriculum. Teaching about health and good nutrition is a good idea. However, making children feel as if there is something wrong with them because of some BMI reading is just plain cruel.

I think that if a parent doesn't "notice" that their child is or getting to be overweight then there is something wrong. Do we really need the school to inform us? Our physician feels it is not necessary since all children grow at different rates based on the onset puberty. As long as a child receives adequate exercise and a reasonable, healthy diet it's all okay.

Two of my daughters were considered BMI overweight because of their muscle mass and neither one of them was ever a bit fat. They were athletes. I believe it can create other issues such as bulemia if schools start picking out kids whose BMI isn't considered normal who are otherwise healthy and in good shape. Leave that up to the doctors.

BMI is a completely flawed measurement. As muscle weighs more than fat, even the fittest person can be classified as obese when in actuality they are in optimal health. We should try to get BMI and MCAS to elope!

I think that schools should follow the mandate of the Obama's and do as they do. At one of the Inauguration lunches, Ms Michelle dined on a 3,000 calorie lunch. So, children should be following her example.
The main problem isn't the food served, its the LACK of vigorous exercise children receive today.
As a child I ate more "crap" during a day than many kids do now. Difference was: I rode a bike to school (or walked), recess was twice a day, not once. Teachers encouraged vigorous play. Ball games, races, King of the Hill and many other games were constantly being played. After school I rode the bike home (after staying at school to play w/friends), changed into play clothes and stayed out til supper usually playing some foolish game. My friends loved climbing trees. My first tree climbed was around 4 yrs old. I remember my mother had to call the Fire Dept to get me down, she wouldn't let me climb down.
Being cooped up inside was the worst kind of punishment we could have.
Summers, yeah, the stories we tell our grandkids are most likely true. Eat breakfast, head out til lunch, come home for quick bite & check in, then off again til supper. Eat, then back out til dark or later (remember playing Hide & Go Seek...best games were after dark).
Today, many kids stand around at recess, can't go out when home. Unless organized can't figure out what to do...unless video games. Sure glad I grew up when I did. Feel bad for today's kids. They lose all around.

Is there a way parents can opt out of this testing for their children? This should be a matter between parents and pediatricians.

It is the rare child that has a high BMI due to muscle mass. Most ARE just plain fat. Fiscal hits it on the head. These kids do not exercise. Parents are worried about their child "feeling bad" but are the ones responsible for the problem in the first place. Kids can't eat junk if it is not there. Cookies, cupcakes, etc... are not a good snack. It IS societies' problem when we bear the cost of the additional health problems and weight reduction interventions to reverse all that "parental love"

I have always opted my kids out of this program. I am not sure what this has to do with the school system. It is a discussion that belongs between the children, parents and their doctor.
Just write a note to the school nurse and ask them not to test your child.

Parents should act like parents (instead of friends) and force them outside to "play".....as a young tot in the 1980's, I would play outside in all seasons and do stuff like play sports or just make up a game with my siblings. Do these pampered kids even know how to shovel snow now? Shoveling or yard work burns calories too. I was thin and drank tons of soda and lots of crap, but I was outside exercising, ALL THE TIME! These kids sit on the internet, facebook and play video games all day like and gain weight as a result. That's the parents' responsibility to get them moving.

At this time, eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are rampant among our school children - especially our young girls. To be weighed in school and have "fat" letters sent home to families is not only degrading and humiliating to our young girls - and their families it only adds to a child's bad body image feelings and premotes eting disorders of all types. My opinion - all parents should opt out of this - it does much more harm than good. Overweight children know that they are overweight - are ridiculed and tormented - dont add to their pain by weighing them like cattle and drawing more attention to their body image.....this is just awful.

A dozen years ago, we had no idea that our 5-year-old had a vision problem until the school sent home a letter telling us she flunked the eye test. She's worn glasses ever since, and we're thankful that the school runs vision screenings. Schools also do scoliosis screenings and a whole host of other wellness checks that we all take for granted - and they do a world of good, ensuring that kids whose disrders would have fallen through the cracks are treated appropriately in a timely manner.

Obesity is probably the most pressing childhood health concern in America right now, and it's quite easy for schools to conduct screenings for this as well. However, there are a few problems:

1) As people have noted, BMI is an awful measurement of obesity. It's only used because it's quick and easy to do, and you don't need any skills - just a scale, a tape measure and a calculator (or a pencil and paper). The BMI number itself is meaningless without other contextual data ... CONTINUED...

2) Unlike vision issues or scoliosis, obesity has no single cause and no single cure, so it's not like parents receive a notice and they know what to do. Should they see a dietitian? A wellness therapist? Their pediatrician? When your kid can't see, you go to the eye doctor and fix it. If your kid scores as "obese," there are far more questions than answers.

3) A vision problem does not carry with it a lifelong social stigma - obesity does. Schools that choose to inform parents that their children have scored in a warning zone need to be EXTREMELY cautious in the wording of their letters. There's a right way and a wrong way to do this, and it looks like North Andover found the wrong one.

So I guess what I'm saying is that schools may indeed be an appropriate place for mass medical screenings, and obesity may indeed be a pressing public health problem ... but the testing methods, treatments, and tact required to do this correctly are not yet advanced enough to warrant doing these screenings at this time.

I absolutely agree with these letters. Parents are in denial about their overweight/obese children. They need to know that in not denying their children sugary and high fat foods, they are contributing to a life time of health problems for their children, i.e., hypertension, diabeties, I was casually speaking with a friend who has an overweight child, she would say, "If I say no to him, he whines and has tantrums, and I just can't deal with that, it makes all of our lives miserable, it's just easier if I just give it to him". Plus, both my husband and I work, so cooking a dinner every night is not always feasible. News flash parents, parenting is not easy, you are the adult and parent, the onus is upon you to say NO and find time to prepare meals on the weekends for the following week! It's not rocket science! Most obese or overweight children have obese or overweight parents. Children learn by example so parents your are creating these monsters. Have some self respect and teach your children good eating habits. Children who whine and have fits, should be disciplined. Giving in to your children and contributing to their obesity is tantamount to negligence and endangering the life of a child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

as a species in prehistoric times, people were lean and so they craved fat, sugar (sweet things), and overate when they could. Part of the problem is our Industrial Food system that caters to those inborn wish for more and more calories. Plus they see ads for food everywhere. In Detroit there is not one supermarket like we are used to. So little access to fruits and vegetables.

DJ
one thing that could help children stay at a reasonable weight is being outdoors more, hiking, swimming in summer, biking, pick-up games, etc. Children don't go into the woods, because of development and their parents keep them nearby and safe. They grow up out of touch with nature and not exploring and hiking, most children, anyway.

I'm thinking of the kids growing up in crime-ridden neighborhoode who don't leave their house out of fear, and don't get exercise. Or the parents who work such long hours making a living that shopping, cooking, serving, and cleaning up afterwards....the temptation is to stop for junk food for the children. I think we need to move on from our experience to see what people are going through now.
It's great when someone gets to the gym and keeps their weight down, but this is a complex issue and we all would do well to open our minds, not make premature judgments, and learn more.

"Public health is my religion" Ashley Judd (She's also a Christian). She's speaking on C-Span right now.

I agree with many if not all of your points Gretchen. I too was lucky to grow up abutting much open space and it had a very healthy impact on me. However, I also grew up playing pick up games/sports. That is almost non existent today and something that could be brought back if parents didn't fall into the the mindset that kids require structured programs. Many of them, such as the "elite" teams are all about making money, not helping the kid and the percentages that are advanced to the D1 or even D2 level are miniscule. Sadly, structured sport at too young an age is actually harming kids, by limited their diversity and causing early onset burnout.

Parks and playgrounds, easily located in any area, urban and rural, should be reintroduced and embraced for all they can offer children. This is where they will learn the skills for pick up games. This is where they should be able to go for limited and safe supervision and where they can spend the day outside in the fresh air and preferably without the mind hold of electronics!

Scott Souza, as long as you expect the public to pay for your children's education then society DOES have a say in your personal life. Don't like it...get 3 jobs and put your kids in private school like I did. When a child's obesity causes type 2 diabetes and society has to pay for their medical care it is our business. When later on they develop heart disease, circulatory problems, etc... because of obesity, again it becomes society that ends up paying. So indeed it is not your right to total privacy unless you want to pay your own way and leave the rest of us out of it.

Nicole Rose: Immunizations are provided in a number of places including by insurance companies. This does NOT mean that children are seeing a doctor. Many doctors in fact do not screen for vision or hearing. It is therefore of benefit to have school screenings. If you provide documentation to the school nurse that your child is tested on a yearly basis then they will not have to be screened.

To All,
School screenings are not up to town school departments. They are mandated by the state. As a matter of fact they are mandated in almost every state in the country. Children do not realize that they are having a problem with vision, hearing or scoliosis until it shows up in screenings. They cannot learn to the best of their ability if they cannot hear or see properly. Obesity has an extremely negative effect on a child's emotional state. Many parents think that it will correct itself or just choose not to address it. To me this is child negligence. They don't do the shopping or decide on what fast food place to go to. Because salads cost more that a happy meal they are also not given a CHOICE sometimes.
To the parent that wants letters mailed to them...provide the school office with a book of stamps at the beginning of the year for YOUR letters. Just because you and/or your child have a breakdown in responsibility somewhere does not mean that taxpayers have to pay for you to get notices. We pay enough for your child's education. Own up to your own responsibilities.

Disappointed: I do agree with a few of your points especially parents needing to be responsible for their children's well-being as well as discipline. With all due respect and harsh as it may sound if one isn't schooled in certain issues my mentality will never be - I pay taxes therefore it's ok for the government to dictate AB and C to me or anyone else even if it's a "smart" mandate. Or the only way to keep the gov. out of the school is to send my child to private school. You're right, society will have to pay for the ramifications of obesity but personal freedoms and choice is still going to win out for me. It's a slippery slope in my mind where the line in drawn when it comes to the government being involved in our personal lives. Should the government mandate which car we drive? Our taxes go towards maintaining roads and bridges - a fuel efficient car or certain type vehicle may be more environmentally friendly or better for the roads but shouldn't we have a choice in which car we drive and how much we choose to pay for it? Where is the line drawn? Back to screenings in school, I'm still against them because it goes too far - Why can't the nurse send home an informational letter about childhood obesity, vision and hearing info. and direct a parent to the proper resources? The ball is in the parent's court and the parent can decide which route to take...or not.

Nicole Rose: The ball should indeed be in the parent's court. The problem is anyone can reproduce but too few take responsibility for their offspring. We provide breakfast and lunch for students in schools and there is even a movement pushing for dinner as well. When do we finally hold a parent responsible? It may take a village to raise a child but the parent's still need to stand up and meet their responsibilities. Until they do the village will have to continue to raise the children WITHOUT A CHOICE! I don't want to pay for many things that my taxes go for but I don't have any personal freedom or choice in the matter if I continue to want to live in this country. I don't want to pay for idiots on motorcycles who drive like fools, choose not to wear helmets and then burden everyone else with higher health care cost and taxes to take care of their brain dead bodies for years after they hit a tree. A letter home to make parents aware that they are putting their child at risk by enabling their obesity seems to be a rather trite matter when put in perspective.

Yes! Schools SHOULD STOP sending "fat letters". Suppose this concept got established, the next thing ya know will be "fat letters" going to politicians . . . and we can't have that! Can you imagine George Kevarian getting one of those??? LOL