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.

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.

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.

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.

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.