The sad truth is that one in every five four-year-olds is classified as obese. One in four school aged children have metabolic syndrome, which is caused by obesity. Childhood obesity is a concern for kids, parents and teachers alike. The answer for this epidemic isn't clear though. One idea that has surfaced is to include a child's BMI (body mass index) on their report cards.
The idea behind grading kids on their health is to alert parents if their child is fat and offer them educational literature to help their child lose weight. Their BMI would be reported in first, fourth, seventh and 10th grade.
The Problem with Fat Report Cards
Not everyone stands behind the idea of reporting a child's weight on their report card. Parents are angered by the idea of school intervening in their child's health and offended by schools telling them their child is fat. Parents know when their kids or overweight or not. Sometimes it is due to poor eating habits and lack of exercise, but this is not always the case. Medication and family history also play a part in a child's weight.
Inaccuracy of BMI for Kids
The BMI is a number on a chart based on the child's weight and height. The problem is it assumes every child is average. It does not take into account different genders, race, bone structure or ratio of muscle to fat. The BMI doesn't tell you how the weight is distributed. Nor does this number take into account the maturity level of the child, growth spurts or puberty. All it says is how the child compares to other children his or her age based on their weight and height.
Additionally, kids who have a BMI in the healthy range may still be at risk for obesity later in life because of poor eating habits. The BMI alone is not a good indicator that there is a problem needing to be addressed. All children need to learn good health practices.
Proactive Ways to Help Kids with a Healthy Lifestyle
Instead of grading kids on their BMI with fat report cards, schools can take a proactive approach and teach all children how to be healthier. Example are teaching proper nutrition and how to read food labels, revamping the physical education program, providing parent education, making after school programs free or low cost and revising the school lunch program. The best way to get kids excited about losing weight is to make it fun. getting a poor grade for their weight is likely to be more harmful than good.
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