Should Schools Measure Students’ Weight, BMI?

By Jon Gargis 

The F’s more schools are becoming concerned with don’t stand for “failure”—they stand for “fat.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that schools in 20 states across the country have implemented programs that have schools measure a student’s weight and body mass index (BMI) when the school year begins. If a child’s BMI is above a recommended level, the school sends his or her parents a sealed note telling them their child is at risk for weight-related issues.

Children, the report says, have taken to call the notes “fat letters,” and have been sent out to parents of children as young as 6.

Childhood obesity has been a focus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and an August 2013 report from the CDC says that about one in every eight preschoolers in the United States are obese. The report goes on to say that children who are overweight or obese as preschoolers are five times as likely as normal-weight children to be overweight or obese in adulthood.

The report also looked at obesity among low-income preschoolers in 43 states—Georgia was one of the 19 states that saw a decline in obesity rates from 2008 to 2011.

Should schools be weighing students, and informing parents about their children’s measurements? Tell us in the comments.