So, your kids a fatty... BMI = TMI on report cards?

Your thoughts?

I don't have kids, but the last I heard about physical fitness in school is that it had been eradicated. So, they take out gym class, and then send your kids home with a report card that they're getting fat? Wouldn't it just be easier to put gym class back in school?

Get the kids moving again!!

It's not just crappy food....it's the fact that nobody even exercises anymore. We all lead sedentary lifestyles these days, even kids!

reply to post by Michelle129th


it doesn't change your reply, no. it just makes it harder to understand your position. if the last generation screwed up and ate themselves into obesity, but they're not allowed to talk about or acknowledge the fact that some kids are fatter than others, how can the old guard help the new generations be better? if the response to anti-obesity measures is "shut up! you're fat too!" it does nothing to help the kids. since you and your children don't have a problem, why should it affect you? the fat kids who might be encouraged to get into better shape are the only ones affected. there clearly is a problem with overeating, poor diets and obesity in our country, but if the only people who are actually taking steps to address the problem are silenced by overly-sensitive people worried about everyone's feelings then the problem will just get worse. what's better; an elderly man who looks back on the humiliation suffered in school as the catalyst for his getting into shape and living to an old age, or a fat person who feels good about themselves and dies of a heart attack at 30?

Originally posted by nikiano

Your thoughts?

I don't have kids, but the last I heard about physical fitness in school is that it had been eradicated. So, they take out gym class, and then send your kids home with a report card that they're getting fat? Wouldn't it just be easier to put gym class back in school?

Get the kids moving again!!

It's not just crappy food....it's the fact that nobody even exercises anymore. We all lead sedentary lifestyles these days, even kids!

great point! how can we demand our kids be in good shape if gym class is one of the things to go when budget cuts come up? so many phys ed courses in high school are electives now. i didn't do any gym-related classes in either of my final two years in high school, and that was ten years ago. if we focused on things like exercise, dance, sports, diet and health from a young age, including a physical aspect to report cards, then those habits would be better ingrained in young adults and adults.

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Although I agree hat I don't agree with BMI being the corner stone of obesity measuring techniques... It is a good indicator that you should look further into a potential problem. They do take into scooby muscle mass and hight if done correctly and nobody is saying all kids need be at Olympic standards... But seriously, a obese child is not only heart breaking, it's causing problems that will last that child a lifetime!

Parents need to get a wake up call!

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Everybody says embarrass the child? Report cards are intended to be PRIVATE and to inform the parents of both mental and physical (gym class) progress!!!

If your kids a dumby, doesn't the slew of bad grades indicate this at risk of embarrassing your child? If the can't make it through they physical fitness test, isn't this indicated?

We allow schools to rate our childrens level of intelligence, physical fitness, even aptitude and compete them nationally in order to increase our schools funding... But pointing out the obvious fact your kids a huge fatass and is facing serious medical issues, this is where people draw the line?

reply to post by RicoMarston


Ok, I understand your comments on this. No, it doesn't affect me in THIS particular instance but as far as i'm concerned it's a slippery slope. I don't believe the schools should have their nose in parent's business. If there were a life threatening situation, that's different. But where is the line drawn? This is opening up a can of worms that will get taken advantage of. So what happens if the child's BMI is outrageously high...they call CAS/CPS? Parents rights have already been tampered with far too much in my opinion.

As I said in my previous post, if the schools want to get involved...bring back the physical activity and cut out the crap they serve in school cafeterias, not bringing in a nanny state of overseeing and pointing out our "bad parenting".

Michelle

reply to post by greeneyedleo


i don't know enough to comment on the validity of the BMI itself, but i will address a point you raised in the comment before this one. the child having enough to deal with without the BMI on the report card. if a kid is getting an F in a class, he probably knows it already, before the report card is printed and sent home to the parents. likewise, if the kids is overweight, he probably already knows it, without the report card.

the report card is for us, the parents, to make sure that even if our kids aren't sharing and talking to us, we have an idea about what's going on in the school. Since there have been comments on the quality of the info BMI gives you, I won't throw my weight (pun!) behind that specifically. i would however, like some physical aspect to my daughter's report card. there have been things that I thought I was doing well which I later found out I did wrong, and I'd like a heads up if I'm treating my daughter's diet and physicality poorly. preferably before that heads up is her hanging gut.

if we worry about kids having too much to deal with all the time, they will become sheltered, spoiled babies. real life is way harder than anything i went through in school, and no one is around to worry about how i'm coping. when my daughter whacks her head on something and I freak out, she freaks out. if i ignore it, she goes about her business like nothing happened.

Nice post, OP. However, a major flaw in your reasoning. You say that many parents are retards and won't do anything unless the problem is pointed out to them.

I say that parents are even more retarted than you give them credit for, and won't even do anything about problems even when they are pointed out to them.

They're more likely to sue the school district for invading their kids' privacy.

Of course, it's not the parents' problem that their kids are fat (or that the parents are, either), it's everyone else's problem.

Personal Responsibility doesn't exist, not one bit, in the USA any more. It's always someone else's problem, whatever the problem is.

It makes me laugh even harder when I see doctors on TV saying that obesity is "genetic" because fat parents have fat kids. No, obesity is ENVIRONMENTAL. Fat parents have junk food and poor eating habits, which are passed along to the kids. If you go back two or three generations of that fat family, guess what, you'll find thin grandparents or great grandparents.

If it was genetic, GENERATIONS of Americans would have been 400 lbs, instead of just over the last 40-50 years.

Reply to post by RicoMarston

BMI is simply a ratio of weight and height. It doesn't take into account things like muscle or build or anything. So yeah, it gives little useful information.


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Originally posted by Michelle129th
reply to post by RicoMarston

 

Ok, I understand your comments on this. No, it doesn't affect me in THIS particular instance but as far as i'm concerned it's a slippery slope. I don't believe the schools should have their nose in parent's business. If there were a life threatening situation, that's different. But where is the line drawn? This is opening up a can of worms that will get taken advantage of. So what happens if the child's BMI is outrageously high...they call CAS/CPS? Parents rights have already been tampered with far too much in my opinion.

As I said in my previous post, if the schools want to get involved...bring back the physical activity and cut out the crap they serve in school cafeterias, not bringing in a nanny state of overseeing and pointing out our "bad parenting".

Michelle

edit on 6-5-2011 by Michelle129th because: (no reason given)

by that logic, failing students should be able to graduate the same as the passing ones. it's my right to raise an unintelligent underachiever if i want to, right? so the school's shouldn't be allowed to tell me if my child is failing or not, they might feel different from the kids who work hard and get good grades. if we aren't allowed to point out areas of deficiency, then how do we fix them? if the kid is way too fat, then the consequences would be handled in the school. when your kid fails a class, do they call CPS? if your kid fails gym, then they could use a type of tutor/physical trainer, use physical ed detention, etc.

your second paragraph is perfect genius though. if the schools would focus again on physical education and healthy foods we wouldn't even need this debate. if we had a nation wide revamp of cafeteria and gymnasium standards, the fat kids would all but go away. then the ones who are fat due to natural causes or emotional problems could be dealt with from a more administrative standpoint. maybe BMI on report cards doesn't fix the problem, but if it can get people thinking and talking about the fact that there is a problem, then better solutions will arise naturally. either way, parents talking about the health of their kids is always a good thing.

Originally posted by warbird03
Reply to post by RicoMarston

 

BMI is simply a ratio of weight and height. It doesn't take into account things like muscle or build or anything. So yeah, it gives little useful information.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

ooooh, right. yeah, that doesn't really seem helpful to someone who is short and stocky, and meant to naturally be short and wide, or a tall person who is naturally built thin. are there alternative systems to BMI, that incorporate more factors than just height and weight? maybe schools could come up with their own system of "grading" a child's physical fitness. one which gives a more custom tailored result.

Originally posted by warbird03
Reply to post by RicoMarston

 

BMI is simply a ratio of weight and height. It doesn't take into account things like muscle or build or anything. So yeah, it gives little useful information.

 

Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

 

I agree. At one time when I was big into bodybuilding I was 5ft2 and 142lbs. I was very small and compact like a gymnast at a size 3. I always won at the local carnivals and fairs when the guys guessed my weight wrong. They would be off by as much as 30lbs. I was even denied life insurance because my height and weight was thought to be obese. Size 3 is not obese in any way. HA I was in the best shape of my life.

Reply to post by RicoMarston

It takes a little more time and effort but they could measure body fat percentage. That's what they did at my high school, especially for us wrestlers since we had a required minimum.


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Hmm... trying to understand this. I get that obesity is a problem, and I get that we want to do something about it. But I gotta say, this particular step seems laughably pointless.

For example, I'm obese. If you saw me, you wouldn't need me to show you a BMI in order to figure that out. It's kind of obvious, being that it's a visual thing.

Maybe I just don't understand the purpose of a BMI report. The purpose of a report card is to show parents how their child is doing in school. I can't imagine a parent receiving a BMI report and gasping in surprise and saying "What? You're FAT?! I had no idea!"

On the other side of the token, I don't get why people are angered by this. Exactly what rights are being taken away? What harm is the BMI report doing? Is this grade going to affect their GPA? Will it hinder their chances of getting into the really good colleges? I'm asking because I don't know.

Reply to post by Bachrk

I think I have the reverse problem. 6 ft and 180 lbs but everybody guesses 140.


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reply to post by babybunnies


"Personal Responsibility doesn't exist, not one bit, in the USA any more. It's always someone else's problem, whatever the problem is."

sad, but true, friend. one of the major lessons I try to teach my daughter is that no one can fix her problems but her, because no one is responsible for her problems but her. obviously, i take responsibility for the aspects of her life which she doesn't yet control, but i think it's more important for her to live like her own actions define her life than for me to take credit for feeding and clothing her.

i think a lot of parents buckle under the pressure of raising children. it's hard freaking work, but too many parents want that respite, that break from the kids. if something is "wrong" with their kid, it has to be somebody else's fault because they are already working so hard, they can't possibly be doing anything wrong. our children grow up thinking that they need to be happy and relaxed all of the time. no one believes in hard work and sacrifice anymore. god, i sound old.

If this is a health issue, why not approach it medically? Just make the test part of the annual school physical for all kids, just like talking blood pressure and listening to the heart are? That way the doctor can discuss it with parent and minor child as a health issue in a private and confidential manner and environment?.

Why does the school or government or anyone else need to know it? They don't.

That's exactly what they did at the end of my son's high school days for the athletes. Made a healthy BMI part of the physical criteria. The doctor is best suited to determine from the BMI and the child's other overall physical condition and other health factors and body type whether or not there is actual cause for concern.

That being said, who does determine and/or regulate what they check during these physicals (for sports and otherwise)?

reply to post by thepixelgarden


You make some good points...
Unfortunately, the OP did not give us a story or a link to see what was being done...the OP is heresay and we all just started talking about the topic anyways....

IF this is happening, then what is the purpose of the BMI on a report and what does the school expect to happen? I mean, you get an F in school, the school expects you to try harder and raise your grade. You get an F in BMI...

There are just no facts to really address this issue. We are all just mouthing our opinions based on nothing.

Originally posted by thepixelgarden
Hmm... trying to understand this. I get that obesity is a problem, and I get that we want to do something about it. But I gotta say, this particular step seems laughably pointless.

For example, I'm obese. If you saw me, you wouldn't need me to show you a BMI in order to figure that out. It's kind of obvious, being that it's a visual thing.

Maybe I just don't understand the purpose of a BMI report. The purpose of a report card is to show parents how their child is doing in school. I can't imagine a parent receiving a BMI report and gasping in surprise and saying "What? You're FAT?! I had no idea!"

On the other side of the token, I don't get why people are angered by this. Exactly what rights are being taken away? What harm is the BMI report doing? Is this grade going to affect their GPA? Will it hinder their chances of getting into the really good colleges? I'm asking because I don't know.

i think the idea would be to catch the kids teetering on the brink or poor health, before too much damage is done and while it's easier to correct the problem. but yeah, telling fat kids' parents that their kid is fat does seem silly. when you put it like that. as long as it is a separate grade, and doesn't bring the GPA down, then yeah, who is it hurting? i think it's a step in the right direction, but certainly wouldn't fix the problem by itself.

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
reply to post by thepixelgarden

 

You make some good points...
Unfortunately, the OP did not give us a story or a link to see what was being done...the OP is heresay and we all just started talking about the topic anyways....

IF this is happening, then what is the purpose of the BMI on a report and what does the school expect to happen? I mean, you get an F in school, the school expects you to try harder and raise your grade. You get an F in BMI...

There are just no facts to really address this issue. We are all just mouthing our opinions based on nothing.

good point! that BS OP snuck right by us! but it brings up a point which obviously a lot of us feel strongly about and acknowledge. maybe this could inspire some of us to do some googling!