Are You Too Stupid to Recognize If Your Kid’s Fat?
The Gov. Deval Patrick administration apparently thinks so.
That’s why — as part of a larger state campaign to fight obesity — they want to order overburdened schools to weigh our first, fourth, seventh and tenth graders and make a determination about whether the children are overweight. Then a nice, patronizing form will be sent home to the parents telling them how to make healthier eating choices and how to kick the children’s behind outside to play and work off some of those pesky calories.
My kids’ weight is not the school’s business. Their weight is an issue for them, The Spouse and I, and their pediatrician, who can provide detailed information tailor-made for my children, whom they’ve known practically since birth. It’s incumbent upon the pediatrician to have weight discussions, not systematically by the school nurse who’s already got enough on her hands.
I don’t want the schools (which in my town are serving mozzarella sticks for lunch today; I packed the kids lunch instead, included carrot sticks) — simply because they have custody of my children during the daytime 10 months out of the year — getting involved in my children’s weight issues. (For the record, they don’t have any.)
My children are already learning about healthy eating habits in school, which I think is important. They’ve studied the new-fangled, incomprehensible food pyramid. In gym classes (yes, my kids’ schools still have gym), they’ve been given charts about how much exercise they should get each day, as well as strong advice on how to stay healthy. There are after-school activities which afford the kids more opportunities to run around like maniacs. (I do think the lunch offerings aren’t great though, and I think there should be MORE gym classes, not fewer, particularly in high school.)
I don’t think the schools should assert the right to make my kids step onto a scale and weigh them, and then send me a note telling me that they shouldn’t eat Doritos while sitting in front of the TV for eight hours a day, because I, apparently, am too dumb to realize that eating junk food and sitting around will make people fat. The schools already have plenty to do, like the extremely difficult task of educating the children. We already have a personal physician whose job it is to give us personalized advice on our health. (That being said, however, I heartily approve of educating the students generally about how to eat better, and how and why they should exercise.)
I know there will be health advocates who’ll support this program, saying that too many parents who are in denial about their children’s weight and health, and don’t understand the long-term health implications for the child and for society (diabetes, heart ailments, etc.) associated with obesity. But I’m not a big fan of the state overreaching and morphing a cliched “nanny state” posture, particularly when it can barely pay its own bills and is cutting local aid which results in the slashing of essential services (like in the schools!) because there’s a dramatic short-fall in tax revenue.
Why not instead focus on getting schools to sell healthy lunches and mandate more gym classes during the day?
All right, now I’ll sit back and prepare to get blasted as an ignorant tool.
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Author and columnist Meredith O'Brien gives you a peek behind the picket fences of modern day life and parenting in the 'burbs. With humor and candor, it's her take on real parenting in the real world.
I agree 100%. We have enough trouble in this society getting our kids educated. We don’t need to make already-too-busy teachers and administrators take on some politically correct bull like this.
Comment by Suldog — January 8, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
Opposition to this is all about ego. Parent’s don’t want to be told how to raise their kids and anything remotely informational sent from the state is automatically discredited. We complain all the time about bad parenting and uninvolved parents, yet when someone actually tries to do something about it they get slammed for being a “nanny”.
The state is not forcing any parent to change anything about their parenting style (or lack thereof). The school nurse already checks your child’s eyesight and hearing so what is the fear of checking a child’s height and weight? While a note saying “YOUR CHILD IS FAT!” would be inappropriate, as a part of a basic health report it could be helpful (e.g. your child’s eye sight is 20/50, corrective lenses are recommended. Your child is x ft tall and weights x number of pounds. This is a normal weight, etc.). What affront to your parenting style does this pose? Not every child has the benefit of seeing a pediatrician regularly so schools can play a role in educating a parent about their child’s health. By tracking weight over time, schools can access how effective their health education programs are. Without any sort of measurement, how can individual schools and districts access if what they are doing is effective?
My biggest criticism is that this is a bit like putting the horse in front of the carrot. Taking the junk food out of school cafeterias and mandating more physical education is necessary and long overdue. Sending pamphlets and report cards home with kids will not work by itself but should not be discredited entirely either.
Comment by mzpanther — January 8, 2009 @ 4:45 pm
Yes - the focus should be on healthy food & more exercise!
I haven’t made up my mind on weighing the kids. I remember them doing that when we were kids, and it was very embarrassing for the overweight kids, and they did send those notes home way back when I was in school. I don’t know if the notes did any good or not, but it doesn’t feel right to have schools doing that. Many parents know what eating healthy means and they know their kids need exercise, and they know their kids are overweight, but some parents really don’t know what food is healthy & what isn’t, and may really not realize how unhealthy their kids’ weights are.
I think I’d rather see more focus on how to be healthy for all the kids.
Comment by NotSure — January 8, 2009 @ 6:35 pm
If a child is obese, I think it would be irresponsible NOT to let the parents know. I’m not talking a few extra pound of chubs here, I’m talking health-at-risk overweight. Like mzpanther said, some kids don’t have the benefit of seeing a pediatrician and if a school nurse has the opportunity to open a parents eyes and let them know that it’s time their child seeks help, that is entirely appropriate.
When I was in school, our vision was regularly checked. If our vision was poor, our parents were notified and encouraged to take further action. Our backs were checked for scoliosis every year, and if we showed signs of scoliosis, our parents were notified and encouraged to take further actions. Our hair was regularly checked for lice, and if we had lice our parents were notified and we were sent home.
Further, if a child is overweight it could be a sign of neglect. Or maybe the kid looks perfect to the eyes of their parents, and the parents don’t realize that their kid’s weight is become a health issue.
Either way, I think that if an educator notices that one of their students is overweight to the point where it looks like it could pose a health risk to a child, the parents should absolutely be notified.
Comment by kristine — January 8, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
Christine, can you be any more condescending? How about this: BMI is statistically useless as a predictor of fatness for school age children … unless you are dim enough to think that being right 25% or less of the time gets you an A+. Furthermore, schools already demand a physical for kids every year - you think those doctors are also clueless?
WEIGHT is not a health issue. FATNESS is a health issue. BMI does not do a good enough job of determining the latter to be worthwhile. It is NOT a diagnostic - it is supposed to be a screen. Unfortunately, politicians don’t read the medical literature, do not know the difference, and want to take the cheap and easy way out.
When they demand that cities and towns clear all sidewalks and maintain crossing lights within a mile of a school, maybe I’ll think they are serious.
Comment by swirlygrrl — January 9, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
Oh, and may I add that our school system’s health department told the superintendent that my son’s teacher having a couch in the classroom spread the flu? (I’ve done research on flu transmission in schools and offices and I NEVER heard that one!!!!) And yet the ignored the CDC’s big push this year to recommend flu shots and hold flu clinics for kids?
These were the same people that sent me a 1984 form and then sent me a letter on letterhead telling me how they had to send out that form because the state gave it to them. I found the REAL form in 45 seconds on the state web site, revised in 12/2006.
Priceless. Maybe they should actually require school health department heads to be competent? To have professional certification on a regular basis? So much easier to weigh the kids and send notes home. I’m sure they could find one from 1963 that would keep them from having to touch an icky computer.
Comment by swirlygrrl — January 9, 2009 @ 2:08 pm