BMI Appearing on Kids' School Report Cards

Posted on Apr 20th 2011 11:25AM by Neha Prakash

Your child could come skipping through the door in the near future with a very different type of report card. The new grade index isn't measured on an A, B, and C scale. It's measured by BMI.

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Some states are now adopting policies to list a BMI calculation on kids' school report cards. The policy makers' defense? They are trying to help shrink the exponentially growing rates of childhood obesity by educating parents.

Would you want your state to accept this policy?

We asked some of our readers, and here's what they had to say:

Kimberly J.
Absolutely not! It has no bearing on an education!

Jewls P.
If it helps to educate the parents, then I am all for it but many times parents are not educated in nutrition for a variety of reasons, or are just too lazy to prepare nutritious meals, snacks, etc. More food dollars are spent on fast food... and convenience at the cost of nutritional health.

Linda W.
No way! That has nothing to do with education. Childhood is awkward enough, why add the fact that kids may get embarrassed or teased if they are too chubby or too skinny in the eyes of their peers.

Judea P.
If they're too ignorant to be able to figure that info out for themselves, than they aren't going to do anything about it anyway.

Shelly P.
Nope. That will do nothing to educate parents about nutrition.

Donna A.
I think that perhaps some mention of level of activity shown in the context of a physical education class might be good. As in "Donna doesn't seem to enjoy team sports. She may be better suited to a more individual sport like swimming"

Rebecca Z.
This will do nothing to help the self esteem issues of either gender.

Michael M.
That is a pathetic idea.

16 Comment

Tags: BMI, childhood obesity, childhood obesity rates, kids + BMI, overweight children, overweight kids, schools + BMI

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mariaschmid216 4-21-2011 @ 2:33AM

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Eileen 4-21-2011 @ 9:11AM

BMI should not be a part of a child's permanent record, such as the report card. It could be something that is discussed at Parent Teacher Conferences, or if there is an issue, could be something the PE teacher, classroom teacher or homeroom teacher, parent and school counselor meet about after the school day at a specific meeting. Just as a child's discipline issues do not follow them to college, neither should their BMI.

Joan 4-25-2011 @ 11:46AM

This should be an issue between a child, parent and physician. Should an adult employee have their BMI on a performance evaluation. I think this promotes prejudices.

patricia obrien 4-26-2011 @ 6:25AM

I completely agree. This will only segregate the heavier kids from the skinnier ones and cause major mental health issues. Suicides will go up and bullying will go up. I think the school systems are trying to take on WAY too much. It is a parents job to keep track of their kids wieght NOT the schools

Cheryl Rainfield 5-03-2011 @ 2:51PM

I agree that it should be something discussed in private.

I think putting BMI on children's and teen report cards is very dangerous, and will lead to increased eating disorders, negative body image, self-harm, and bullying. I *hated* my body as a teen--I hid in baggy clothes, and I used self-harm (for many reasons, but hating my body was in the mix). I *know* that I would have cut myself up much more if my BMI had been on my report card.

I (Cheryl Rainfield, the author of SCARS, a novel for teens on self-harm, sexual abuse, and being queer), and Sarah Darer Littman, author of PURGE, a novel for teens on eating disorders, started a petition to stop schools putting BMI and weight grades on report cards.

change.org/petitions/stop-dangerous-practice-of-weight-grades-on-report-cards-4

I hope you'll check out the petition, and sign it if it speaks to you.

There are many healthy, non-obtrusive ways to keep kids healthy & from becoming obese, including regular gym class and active extra-curricular activities; compassionate education for entire classes on healthy eating & exercise; healthy food in school cafeterias and snack machines; etc.

take care,

Cheryl Rainfield

Caroline 4-21-2011 @ 3:42PM

I could see legislating this as part of the annual medical checkup that students need to get. This is a medical issue and would be more appropriate coming from a physician in the privacy of an office visit with parents and children.

Stephanie 4-24-2011 @ 6:25PM

I don't think this is a terribly effective approach- unless they're looking for a new way to humiliate children. Why don't we make sure that cafeterias and physical education gets the funding that they deserve instead?

Jeanette 7-29-2011 @ 2:55PM

My child was a "slim" until he switched schools and had access to the awful menu in the public school system. He is not "fat", but has gained quickly within the last year which worries me.

thoughtful 4-24-2011 @ 11:19AM

How ridiculous! Schools should focus on education, math, science, language, social studies, physical education, computers, etc. The BMI 'grade' is the most unbelievably stupid & invasive thing I have ever heard of. It provides no meaningful feedback to parent or child, just a number, another catagory, a judgment. In a word, garbage!

karen 4-24-2011 @ 3:32PM

I agree childhood obesity is a serious problem, but is there any evidence that this approach leads to better eating, more exercise, and weight loss? How about an evidence-based approach?

Maighen 4-25-2011 @ 4:50AM

Until they come up with a significantly more accurate way to truly gauge someone's true body composition, there is absolutely ZERO reason to list the outdated, inaccurate BMI number ever and especially not in a child's permanent record. BMI scales are completely useless if the person being measured is in any way muscular because it is incapable of differentiating between muscle weight and fat weight. Also, bone structure absolutely plays a part in a person's weight, and the BMI can't account for that either. A good friend of mine is a 5'9" 250lb semi-professional body builder, and according to BMI he's morbidly obese! RIDICULOUS! Granted, children aren't typically little muscle machines, but many football players, especially the big varsity linebackers, would likely test out as overweight at the VERY least when they are often quite fit. Likewise, I have another dear fried who is 5'0" and 10lbs and has more health problems than most obese 50 year old diabetic men who've smoked 2 packs a day and subsist on Big Macs, and she's 29!! APPROPRIATE BMI OR BODY SIZE DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL HEALTHY!! Branding a child as overweight or obese without considering ALL the factors that make up body composition does NOTHING to address the obesity epidemic and, instead, damages a child's often already sensitive sense of self-worth by unfairly labeling them. Not too long ago, Lindsey Vonn, the multi-medal winner of the last Winter Olympics, was called fat in the media because she's not stick thin and her BMI just BARELY squeaks by on the "normal" range (5'10" and 172lbs). Yes, this ELITE athlete got called fat all because we have this warped sense of beauty as driven by the ridiculous fashion industry (and they can try to deny this all they want, but we ALL know they are THE SOURCE of unhealthy ideologies on what a woman should look like!) that has spent the last 50+ years trying to convince us that we should all be 5'10" and 115lbs, which, incidentally, is about the only measurement the BMI scale gets right! Kids have enough to worry about while growing up without having to be branded unnecessarily and inaccurately by an antiquated tool that cannot correctly portray someone's true fitness level. If you want to stop the obesity epidemic, make fast food cost more and HEALTHY FOOD COST LESS! If nutritious food less people with lower incomes would be more likely to buy it!! SIMPLE AS THAT!!!

Maighen 4-25-2011 @ 4:54AM

Apologies...

"...5'0" and 110lbs..."

and

"If nutritious food cost less..."

Darn typos! :)

Vicky Burton 4-25-2011 @ 10:13AM

Good or bad, families in this this crazy, overscheduled world need fast food available to feed their families while they race from one activity to the next. What we need is healthy fast food.

Adrienne 4-25-2011 @ 1:00PM

Where I live, the school system is understaffed, overworked, and supposedly underpaid. Adding another chore is not good. In addition to that, children are not prepared and should not be exploited by exposing their private physical information. Educate these kids and their parents on an individual basis if they so desire, but the governments are spending too much time and energy into the private lives of people for things that some may find evasive and money and time consuming.

dee 4-25-2011 @ 12:18PM

My daughter is 15 years old 5'8" and weighs 126. She is all muscle after 7 years of competitive cheerleading. They did the BMI at her school and she was told she is moderately overweight. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm....
I emailed the PE teacher and said they were obviously mistaken. I explained that we were not upset for my daughter because she knows she is thin. It is more about the kids that are moderately overwieght. Were they told they are obese?
Two weeks later the whole class did the test again and my daughters BMI was much lower. I dont have a problem with any test schools give if they are done correctly. If I had just let this go would it have been put on these kid's records? I would hope not.

Deborah Canto 4-25-2011 @ 1:28PM

There is NO reason why a child should be weighed at school. None.
Height, weight and other physical characteristics are best kept between the pediatrician. student and parents. Are all the school employees, admins, etc. required to do this also? and to publish it? Sadly, there is no way this information would stay private for long, and would only feed the gossip/bully/harassment machine that runs so well in schools today. A previous post asked about the lunchroom menus. This is the first and best place to start creating healthier children. Spend a little more and put fruit out instead of the chips, why don't they?