A is for average-weight, F is for fat

5th June 2008

A is for average-weight, F is for fat

posted in Body Image, Diets, Eating Disorders, Family Issues, Health/Nutrition, New Research |

The practice of reporting students’ body mass scores to parents originated a few years ago as just one tactic in a war on obese children. Some school districts like Miami’s and New York City’s are even issuing personalized fitness reports for students that list their abdominal crunches and the pace of their one-mile runs along with body mass index scores. In many states, the reports — in casual parlance, obesity report cards — have become a new rite in childhood despite no solid research on either its physical or psychological impact and no controlled studies with with to judge its effectiveness.

Many schools argue that despite the flawed nature of BMI, a measure doctors generally do not recommend using for children, the reports are needed because most parents do not have accurate perceptions of their child’s weight and therefore like most fat people, need to be told exactly how fat their child is. Obesity report card proponents also say that the consequences of obesity far outweigh the blows these reports deliver to a child’s self-esteem or their affirmations of those children who suppress weight through unhealthy means as healthy.

Information is power, as the saying goes, but what happens after little Johnny or Susie’s parents receive a report grading their child as fat?

Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, is the lead author of a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics that examines how parents of overweight adolescents who know their child is overweight use such information - full study available here. The doctor said in a news story here that she decided to research the issue because of the growing practice of obesity report cards being sent home in the schools. Readers here might recall that Neumark-Sztainer is the respected author of several studies on the harmful effects of dieting for teens, especially teen girls, referenced on this site here and here.

So, how did most parents react with the information that their child is fat? Most simply encouraged their kid to diet. In fact, parental encouragement to diet marked the only difference between parents who accurately perceived their child to be overweight and those who did not recognize their children to be overweight. The study noted no differences in family eating patterns or habits, including the frequency of fast food and the availability of fruits and vegetables.

Five years later, those who had been encouraged to diet were much more likely to still be overweight — about 74 percent of boys compared with 52 percent of boys not encouraged to diet. For girls, the difference was 66 percent and 44 percent.

Neumark-Sztainer said public health experts have known for years that adolescents and teenagers who say they diet are the ones who are most likely to have weight and eating disorder problems that can last for years. Now this study also shows that just informing parents that their kids are overweight is counterproductive, she said. The study concluded that parents should talk less and do more:

When counseling parents of overweight children, health care providers should inform parents that dieting is not an effective long-term weight-management strategy for youth. In addition, given the high prevalence of poor dietary intakes and low physical activity levels among youth, from a public health perspective, one might question the approach of encouraging only those parents who have overweight children to provide a healthier home environment for their children. It may be more effective to provide all parents with tools to help them create a healthy home food environment, to role model and support healthy eating and physical activity, to engage in effective parenting, and to talk less about weight and dieting at home.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 10:38 am and is filed under Body Image, Diets, Eating Disorders, Family Issues, Health/Nutrition, New Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On June 5th, 2008, Kristie

said:

Great post, and good information. I’d like to know whose parents are completely unaware that their kids are overweight? At my house, my mother commented on my weight (usually comments of “You’d be so pretty if you just…” or “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”) often enough that if the kids at school weren’t enough to give me a complex about it, that would’ve done it. But my parents didn’t play outside with us, and if I asked to go for a bike ride with them, they agreed only rarely. How’s an 11-year-old kid supposed to deal with being told “You need to get more exercise, and eat better”? They’re children; children are not intended to create their own diet and exercise programs, nor do they do the shopping in most cases. This gets me riled, but I’m glad the info is getting out, however slowly.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 11:41 am

2 On June 5th, 2008, Rachel

Kristie - Obesity report card proponents argue that because kids are fatter these days, our perceptions of what constitute overweight are warped. I don’t buy that parents are just delusional. Instead, I think its the standards that are delusional. Plus, as the Nintendo story has shown us, a child’s classification in average and overweight categories can fluctuate each month as they continue to grow and develop.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

3 On June 5th, 2008, MrsDrC

Can we just remove the last two words from this statement please? “dieting is not an effective long-term weight-management strategy for youth” Then get the world to read it?

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

4 On June 5th, 2008, Rachel

MrsDC - I’d revise it first to read: Dieting is not an effective long-term weight-management strategy for anyone” before we release it to the world.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

5 On June 5th, 2008, Piffle

Yeah, I really wonder about those BMI things too. All my kids (sample of three) got plump, then shot up in height; overall they’re all fine and healthy, but I’m certain that their BMI’s fluctuate all over the place.

And fat stigma and wishing you were thinner makes people sicker than the actual fat according to a study I saw a few months ago, but can’t actually locate at the moment. Basically, if you wanted to lose weight, you were sicker at the same weight as someone who didn’t want to lose weight. So to actually affect kids’ health, we shouldn’t emphasize weight at all, just movement and eating some vegetables and fruits.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 1:26 pm

6 On June 5th, 2008, Marste

Oh my god. Can I just say that if my kid showed up with an “obesity report card” I’d be in the principal’s office the very next morning (and then at the next school board meeting) screaming my damn head off? Jeeee-SUS.

(As an aside, I have to say that at times like this, I am SO grateful to my mom for being “that mother” - the one who was always in the principal’s office screaming her damn head off. I learned a lot about standing up for myself that way.)

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

7 On June 5th, 2008, Des

I used to hate those stupid report cards when I lived in NYC. It was just another reason for me not to go to school.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

8 On June 5th, 2008, Tracey

I’m right with Marste on this!

This topic circulates quite a bit and really is infuriating. I’m always wondering what type of schools, the demographics, and pilot-analysis these studies generated from? Or is it the same handful of schools, different researchers commmenting, then the media running amok with the story to incite fear among readers.

Either way I think there needs to be a loud, united front to say “STOP” already.

-cheers

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 1:52 pm

9 On June 5th, 2008, Rachel

Des: I’m curious. How did students react to the information amongst themselves? Was it made public knowledge? Were students competitive about the scores they received? Did it spark student dieting or even eating disordered behaviors?

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm

10 On June 5th, 2008, April D

Well I have to say though that while the BMI is a new addition; we certainly did get those fitness tests in school when I went through and it sucked. How awful to have to stand in a line at gym class (which was already a horrifying experience, having to CHANGE in front of other girls when you’re already self conscious), and then be publically shamed (or honored) for your ability in various stretching, pull up, running, etc activities. Which, if I might add, the same gym class, did NOTHING to prepare you for all year long. So in effect, the tests were not a reflection on either your abilities or the affectiveness of any particular program that the school implemented. Rather, they were used to humiliate those of us who didn’t have after school sports or natural flexibility to rely on to make us magically fit.

Grrr….yeah. Still the memory of it chafes. I would have to agree that at this point if I had children I would be seeking a school offering healthy habits guidance rather than arbitrary number reporting to shame children.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 2:26 pm

11 On June 5th, 2008, Bree

Gotta love the schools: “If the parents are denial about how big a fattie their kids are, then it’s up to us to tell them!”

I can’t stress enough that shaming people into dieting should not be done, any under circumstances, especially children who are still growing.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

12 On June 5th, 2008, pennylane

I love that Neumark-Sztainer decided to study this and produce actual data as opposed to the knee-jerk reaction that fatties must be constantly reminded of their fatness, especially children because we are certain they never get this information. Certainly not from their peers on an hourly basis. While the outcome is not at all surprising (especially to anyone who has been a fat teenager encouraged to diet), I’m glad now there’s evidence to point to.

In addition to issues of home environment, I really wish more schools would start mentoring programs. I was lucky enough to be a mentor in a program for low-income girls that taught me a lot about different home environments and their perceptions of their bodies.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

13 On June 5th, 2008, Rachel

Gotta love the schools…

Yeah, especially when they send out those kinds of reports while simultaneously feeding kids pizza and funnel cakes for breakfast and lunch and collecting money off the junk food and soda vending machines.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

14 On June 5th, 2008, Des

@ Rachel: When the program was enacted in my school it was really messy and nobody knew what the hell they were doing so I guess the way they do it now is different from what I went through. They would measure our weight and height and make us do physical fitness tests in front of everybody. If we did the number of push ups/sit-ups/running required for our weight we passed and got to sit down, if we didn’t, well, we were fat and lazy and the gym teacher would make you keep trying, IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY!!

I guess I was lucky because I went to a relatively small school and I knew most of the kids so they weren’t too mean about it. Also I was really quick to act like a clown and make fun of myself before anybody else got a chance to, but it was a horrible experience. It really messed with my self esteem. I can’t imagine going through that at one of the bigger schools.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

15 On June 5th, 2008, Des

I forgot to mention that weight and height got you one result while the physical fitness got you another. So you could be at an “unhealthy” weight, but still pass the physical fitness. I always failed at both

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

16 On June 5th, 2008, Marste

“Yeah, especially when they send out those kinds of reports while simultaneously feeding kids pizza and funnel cakes for breakfast and lunch and collecting money off the junk food and soda vending machines.”

F*cking *A*, Rachel. God, this just makes me so mad.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 4:24 pm

17 On June 5th, 2008, Wendy

Another reason why I am homeschooling (*cough* un-schooling) my children.

My big question is why on earth would any parent ALLOW such a thing?

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 4:50 pm

18 On June 5th, 2008, Lisa B

Wendy said: My big question is why on earth would any parent ALLOW such a thing?
*********************************
I agree. Is it possible for parents to refuse the score, just like they can refuse “sex education”? I know that if I had children of school age, I would tell them just don’t do these tests. Can you refuse?

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

19 On June 5th, 2008, Wendy

I think anything is possible. IF my kids were involved in such a thing, I would march in with a trumpet and signs screaming absolutely NOT.

I personally believe that parents just need to *grow some balls* and set the standard they personally want instead of asking if they can.

Be Nike….
Just Do It.
LOL

(Then again, I’m not exactly outspoken in these kinds of situations!) LOL

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 5:50 pm

20 On June 5th, 2008, i-geek

Another vote for “plans to homeschool future children”. Seriously, it appears to me that our public schools in general are trying to ensure that a full generation of kids has no skills other than disordered eating and standardized test-taking. Gaaah.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

21 On June 5th, 2008, Alex

Having a BMI score on a child’s report card is an abomination.

I remember having to get my body fat measured in high school gym class. It was completely humiliating, especially when the gym teacher glorified the thin or underweight women as being epitomes of health…at the time, I was 15, 5′4″ and about 115 lbs (and already extremely restricting my food), and she encouraged me to lose five pounds by running everyday and cutting carbs. Unfortunately, I took her advice.

I’m still recovering from anorexia at age almost-25, and I absolutely believe that adults have a great influence on the development of children’s confidence levels, especially in regards to weight. All my life (from a very young age), all I heard was fat=bad, thin=good, whatever you do, don’t get any fatter. What a disgusting message to send to women, what a horrible time waster. Encourage your kids to read and love life and do what they’re good at. Don’t encourage to be thin. What kind of accomplishment is that?

Wonderful website, Rachel. I read it every day.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

22 On June 5th, 2008, Kate

Oh. my. god. I can just imagine myself as a kid having to deal with that–I would have died. It would have been HORRIBLE. I was a kid who always hovered on the edge of normal-not-thin & chubby-not-fat. I hit puberty fairly early–hellish enough when surrounded by skinny prepubescent girls–& reached what would end up being roughly my adult weight by 13 though I did not reach my adult height until 19. My parents were not kind about my size. My doctor was not kind about it either, though I never actually crossed into “overweight” territory by more than a couple pounds until adulthood. I was in shape and muscular but definitely carrying extra weight for my body, a result of eating “forbidden” foods in secret in part because my body didn’t conform and I was too ashamed to eat almost anything in front of people. Ironically, I find myself in the middle of the “normal” BMI range now that I have “permission” to eat “bad” food, which leaves me with the strange experience of suddenly being a fairly small adult when for most of my life I’ve felt freakishly huge. (Which was a somewhat distorted view, looking back…but adult screwiness was a major factor in this self-image and BMI report cards would NOT have helped!) Everyone in my life was quite aware that I was not teeny and did not have the “right” body–no one would have needed this in writing, especially given that I was also a kid who gained weight before height. I can’t imagine the awful comparisons, the shame if my weight was suddenly the school’s business to judge. Society’s body ridiculousness contributed to years and years of eating disorders for me, and I can’t help but think the more we harp on this, the more kids will go through that hell.

Anyway…sorry for ranting, but this is one of those things that just KILLS me. It’s so misguided and cruel…and I can’t believe there is ANYONE who couldn’t see that fact.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

23 On June 5th, 2008, lynnie

As if this is any business of the education system. Poor kids. This just makes me so sad. Also really glad we homeschool.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

24 On June 5th, 2008, spacedcowgirl

Five years later, those who had been encouraged to diet were much more likely to still be overweight — about 74 percent of boys compared with 52 percent of boys not encouraged to diet. For girls, the difference was 66 percent and 44 percent.

This is an amazing result–something I think we all knew (either intuitively about ourselves, or from observation of others), and something which I’m sure is borne out elsewhere in the literature, but I personally hadn’t seen it in black and white like that before.

When will people get it through their heads that when it is said that “diets don’t work,” this means “DIETS DON’T WORK”? And for kids it’s not just a question of “don’t work,” it’s a question of “will screw up your child’s relationship with food, possibly permanently.”

I always said that my mom (who encouraged me to diet–it wasn’t all her fault, of course, and I’m sure I would have picked up the behavior anyway, but she was the first to encourage me to count calories from a young age) could have chosen between a size 14 non-dieting daughter and a size 22 dieting (and, as it turns out, eating-disordered) daughter. (The exact sizes are not really important, of course.) A size 6 daughter with healthy, reasonable eating habits was simply not on the menu of options no matter how much she wanted that for me. A child with healthy, non-disordered eating habits who is active, happy, and consumes a variety of foods is the best kid he or she can be, regardless of weight.

Of course cue the chorus of “But it’s a *lifestyle change*” (one where you, um, restrict calories or carbs or fat grams, probably) and “But what are we supposed to DOOOOO?? We can’t just tell kids to give up!”

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

25 On June 5th, 2008, spacedcowgirl

Hmm… maybe “best kid” was not the best way to put that. Of course kids are perfectly good enough as human beings regardless of whether they eat healthily or not. What I meant was more like the kid I described will likely be the healthiest he or she can be because these habits (including the non-disordered part, which includes not obsessing over foods, calories, or weight) are the best bet for health regardless of what weight a child settles at.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

26 On June 5th, 2008, Fat Girl

Ugh.

Speaking of schools “punishing” fat kids, I want that god damned “physical fitness test” banned from schools.

That shit scarred me like none other, and I’m sure it contributed to my eating disorder.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 10:15 pm

27 On June 5th, 2008, forever_dreamer21

About the obesity report cards I just think that idea should be trashed and that schools should mind their own business and let the doctors decide whether the children are unhealthy or not (ones who actually care about health like my doctor and not losing weight to be pretty andhopefully those that don’t use BMI).

I think those report cards could also lead to eating disorders and will damage a child’s self-esteem.

posted on June 5th, 2008 at 11:57 pm

28 On June 6th, 2008, Linda

I’m with you, Wendy. Wow, with all the crap that the schools put on kids, makes you wonder, what are they are doing *for* them? I honestly don’t know anymore. I’d like to think that if I were a parent of a kid in school, that I’d be raising a ruckus. But there’s something about these big, official institutions of “experts” that cows people. Even otherwise intelligent people. I know so many parents who are upset about what goes on in their kids’ schools. I think we need a parental revolution, fast. (Although maybe that’s exactly what the homeschool movement is about — the unfortunate thing being that not everyone who would like to protest in that way can.)

Anyway, yeah. When I was in grade school (1977-1980) we had these fitness tests. No BMI, but how many push-ups you can do, rope climb, arm hang, etc. They were called presidential-something-or-other. So this isn’t something new. Perhaps not coincidentally, this was exactly when I started thinking about my body in negative terms. Something that has taken me *decades* to move past.

Pisses me off.

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 10:32 am

29 On June 6th, 2008, Michelle

The schools send out some frighteningly mixed messages. I’m a teacher, so I see it every day. We can’t have pop machines in school because it encourages children to consume too many calories, but we can have a juice machine stocked primarily with 20 oz. bottles of hawaiian punch (which has more sugar and calories than a 12 oz. can of pop) . We tell the kids “make healthy food choices” but then we feed them a school lunch that averages 1200–1500 calories, primarily from processed food and fat. Then we tell them “study hard and be smart” but (at least in Arkansas) we give them an actual weighted grade for their weight and BMI. Last year, we had a student who would’ve been valedictorian, except that her weight was 240 pounds and her BMI was 40. Not only did she miss out on receiving the honor due to her for having the highest grade point average in her REAL classes, but she lost out on scholarships awarded only to valedictorians. Then, just to cap off the joy, when a fuss was raised about her not getting her valedictorian status, they published this poor child’s weight and BMI as the justification of stealing from her.

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 10:50 am

30 On June 6th, 2008, Rachel

Michelle - When I made the graphic for this post, I made it in jest. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Kids’ weights are actually factored and recorded as part of their academic records? Do you remember this girl’s name or when this happened and in what city? I’d like to look this up in more detail.

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

31 On June 6th, 2008, Wendy

I am SO personally offended, I could throw up (and not because of eating disorders).

If any parents who are reading this, WANT to homeschool, but haven’t figured out how this can work for them. The first step is to look up your states laws at http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp.

Some states are super strict, but if grandparents, aunts, and extended family all group together… it is easier to meet some more harsh requirements like in NY state. There are some private schools that are actually homeschooling umbrellas.

Some states have no serious homeschooling laws, like Idaho and Arizona.

I’m writing this to show everyone that there are options available. It takes some looking into and some planning… and our kids are worth every single moment.

It is time for all of us to stop this. This is just Enough.

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

32 On June 6th, 2008, Liza

I’m going to copy and paste what I wrote in my blog about this:

Always good to add potential fodder to the merciless bullies of elementary schools. I’m pretty certain my parents knew I was the fat kid. Not to mention the fact that these tests (based on number of sit-ups/push-ups, and mile-run times) only measure some fitness. I’d have failed that but if there’d been a swim test I’d probably have done close to the best out of everyone despite having twice as much to pull through the water.

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 1:25 pm

33 On June 6th, 2008, spacedcowgirl

Michelle, that is just breathtakingly awful. I can’t think of anything else to say because I’m just sort of sitting here with my mouth hanging open.

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

34 On June 6th, 2008, Piffle

Seconded. How terrible for her to have her earned honors stolen from her, then her medical privacy invaded to justify it.

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 2:58 pm

35 On June 6th, 2008, Quiwi

Please tell me the family of that girl didn’t back off, and instead turned this into a legal matter. Sounds to me that she earned that recognition fair and square, through hard work and intelligence. That’s just as bad as barring a student from valedictorian status simply because they’re not of the “right” ethnicity, or come from the “wrong” part of town. If anything, that school needs to be called on that ASAP before another child is humiliated and cheated like that student. I do hope that she is doing well, and will still pursue her goals, regardless of that ridiculous setback.
It’s hard to believe that this is happening in 2008, when there are countless measures being taken to ensure the safety and well-being of children. When it comes to child abuse, sexual predators, violence, pornography,and many other cruel things that could harm a child for a lifetime, we as a society should maintain an active vigilence that should never, ever let up. Yet, when it comes to ridiculing and punishing children for being larger than average, way too many people adopt a “Well, it’s for their own good!” attitude. So, enabling a child to invest a good part of their childhood and adulthood obsessing about their size,food, and self-worth is for their own good? No wonder the numbers of people developing mental and physical disorders associated with body image are on the rise. It’s so much more important to take up as little space as you can on this planet than to love and live, right? I wish that was false.

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 3:41 pm

36 On June 6th, 2008, Kate

Re: Michelle’s comment about the would-have-been/SHOULD-HAVE-BEEN valedictorian–

That makes me ill. Literally sick to my stomach. Nauseated. That is so unbelievably cruel and RIDICULOUS I can’t even begin to find a way to rant and scream. How can anyone justify DOING that to this poor girl? How can they justify robbing her something she achieved through work and intelligence and overcoming the torture chamber that school so often is for heavy students. This is something that has NOTHING to do with her weight. Even if they pretend it’s about health, then why not grade students on blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate, number of times they had the flu, amount of caffeine they drink per day, whether they smoke, drink, and on and on and on?! Anyone can see that’s patently ridiculous–how is weight any different? What if she had a metabolic disorder or was on a medication that caused weight gain–would they punish her for that?

Holy crap this makes me angry.

(Hehe, I guess I DID manage to find a way to rant and scream. )

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 6:32 pm

37 On June 6th, 2008, Meowser

I’m with everyone else on that student Michelle mentioned, that is absolutely outrageous. I hope those parents are planning legal action. So the time and energy she put into studying and writing papers, instead she should have put into going to the gym and starving herself? Who ARE these people?

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

38 On June 6th, 2008, Kristie

I’m back, and livid as everyone else is re: this valedictorian thing. First of all, by publishing that info to the press, they are in violation of the Data Privacy Act that covers all students. And I’d like to know if, at the sports banquets, they announced the GPAs of all the athletes who were barely squeaking by academically.

I suppose that would be wrong, though. But shaming non-jocks is fine.

GRRRR

posted on June 6th, 2008 at 11:13 pm

39 On June 7th, 2008, Mary

This is appalling. And I am absolutely stunned by Michelle’s story and am wondering if there’s anything we can do for that girl.

Sadly I think it is just an extreme example of an issue that comes up for more kids than we realize. When I was in high school, we had to take two years of gym. Freshman year I managed to get an A (although I didn’t escape the humiliation of the class weigh-in conducted by the gym teacher’s daughter, who happened to be in our class and promptly blabbed to her friends exactly how much I weighed). But the sophomore gym class was notoriously tough, and I realized that I would not be able to be valedictorian if I didn’t get an A in gym, so my parents and I petitioned (on some phony grounds having to do with wanting to take an extra science class) for me to be allowed to take gym in summer school in a neighboring school district. Since I didn’t know the other students, I didn’t care about their opinion of me. The class was actually fun, and by the end of the summer I discovered that I enjoyed running and tennis. I also got an A, and a couple years later I was offered valedictorian-specific college scholarships worth many thousands of dollars. I’m so grateful that my parents were pro-active about the whole thing.

posted on June 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm

40 On June 7th, 2008, Fat Girl

Michelle,

Are you serious? That.. that is disgusting. As far as I know, fitness doesn’t factor into the actual GPA’s here yet, and I hope to god it never does. That is beyond disgusting. Punishing people like that for not having the good fortune to have genes that make them naturally thinner? Disgusting.

posted on June 7th, 2008 at 6:31 pm

41 On June 7th, 2008, i-geek

Holy-effing-shit, Michelle! I’m not one to cry “LAWSUIT!” for everything, but this is a situation where a major lawsuit against the school district would be so justified that it’s scary. I hope she and her parents win enough to put her through whatever school she wants to attend and then some. So…being really smart and working really hard at your classes means nothing if you don’t look like an Olsen twin, huh? And yet it’s still acceptable to scrape by with a barely-passing average if you can throw a football. Great message to send to young people, Arkansas.

posted on June 7th, 2008 at 6:52 pm

42 On June 8th, 2008, Vanessa

i’d like to know what overweight or obese child could possibly miss the fact that they’re overweight. i wasn’t even obese as a child, just developed a bit early, and i sure as hell didn’t have any trouble finding out i was overweight, even without my parents freaking out (which of course, they did).

isn’t that what playgrounds are for? i mean, sure times have changed, but not that much. i mean, at the very least kids today watch enough south park to learn how vitally important it is to constantly make fun of overweight children. right fatass?

posted on June 8th, 2008 at 5:51 am

43 On June 9th, 2008, vladka

This is INCREDIBLE. I’m sooo sorry for those children. In my country (Czech Republic, Europe), fitness of course counts in the general results but teachers don’t weigh anyone and always tend to give everyone A’s because they have common sense. It is incredible, though, how much we forget what we hated and let the same happen to our children. In here, you only get peer pressure and your parents can be obsessed with weight but that’s it. I wonder, whether the same principals who promote children obesity reports plan to introduce the same for teachers: “You only deserve half your wages, because you’re twice your colleague’s size.” Everyone realizes that THIS would be a complete nonsense but when it happens to children, it’s okay??? I’m mad about it despite the fact that my children are pretty safe. This shouldn’t happen anywhere anytime!

posted on June 9th, 2008 at 5:46 am

44 On June 9th, 2008, Piffle

vladka, I LIKE your idea. I think it would really get the point across!

posted on June 9th, 2008 at 9:44 am

45 On June 10th, 2008, ricki

BMI report cards: for when being the brunt of vicious teasing on the part of your schoolmates just isn’t enough.

Seriously, what’s next? Ugly Report Cards, where the little unattractive kids are encouraged to get plastic surgery?

I am so ****ing glad that I am FOREVER done with being 12.

(And seriously: fat kids KNOW they are fat. They don’t need a shaming note from the principal to inform them of that. Trust me on this.)

(I will say - I actually LIKED the Presidential Fitness Thing. I never got 100% on it because I couldn’t do a pull-up, but then none of the other girls could, either. And I could do the crunches faster and more completely than some of the skinny bitches in my class…and that made me feel kind of good, these girls who had been tormenting me were actually WEAKER than I was.)

posted on June 10th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

46 On June 10th, 2008, Rachel

Ricki - My company sponsored a team this year for the Presidential Fitness Challenge. I successfully completed it. I joined in because it didn’t emphasize obesity as much as it did fitness. I thought about starting my own HAES team but thought it to be maybe inappropriate to promote on this kind of site seeing as many readers here have trouble with overexercising.

posted on June 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm

47 On June 10th, 2008, MrsDrC

Michelle’s comments…WOW.

That just makes me want to cry and cry and cry. I fought for YEARS to be accepted by my peers. My family moved from Southern California to Central Oregon when I was twelve. I put up with, and was made sucicidal by some pretty messed up crap, but THAT?! I just dont have any words. That seriously makes this short fat stay at home mom wanna get violent.

I’m never one to scream lawsuit either, but man I’d be firing up some lawyers on that one. I know some pretty high power ones too.

posted on June 10th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

48 On June 10th, 2008, Rachel

MrsDrC: Perhaps your best revenge for the lack of support you found amongst your peers is to provide that same support you lacked to your children. As a mom, you have an incredible amount of influence over not only your children, but all those they come into contact with. It’s a bit awe-inspiring, the power you moms wield.

posted on June 10th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

49 On June 10th, 2008, MrsDrC

Thanks Rachel. I dont think my boys will need my support as far as their weight, they are tall skinny boys just like daddy. But they already know better to judge a book by it’s cover.

My best revenge. MY LIFE. Many of those who tormentted me dont live the best of situations. I LOVE rubbing my amazing marriage, wonderful children and general love affair with my life in their faces every chance I get.

The best revenege is happiness.

posted on June 10th, 2008 at 5:51 pm

50 On June 13th, 2008, Ametatsu

Michelle - wow, that’s TERRIBLE. It’s incredibly unfair, because how the hell is she supposed to help it if she has a metabolism that makes it hard to lose weight? Especially when, if she’s got the grades for valedictorian, it probably means she’s spent a lot of her time READING and STUDYING and generally doing the stuff schools are meant to encourage you to do, so she hasn’t had the spare time to spend her life exercising to burn it off.

In my group of friends, we have all kinds of body shapes, but the girl who eats the most? Size 4. British size 4. And she would be the first to protest if that got her some academic award over a fatter kid. Because it’s not down to anything she’s done, she’s just naturally skinny. And some people just aren’t.

posted on June 13th, 2008 at 4:54 am

51 On June 14th, 2008, Constance

This isn’t a new thing as evidenced by the comments. I can still remember the note sent to my parents from my elementary school nurse. I may have been 10 at the time (I’m 54 now). It listed my height and weight and noted that I had wax in both ears and was overweight. Of course my brother read it and teased me relentlessly.

posted on June 14th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

52 On June 30th, 2008, Exactly. » The-F-Word.org said:

[...] kid is overweight use such information - full study available here or read our discussion of it here. Five years later, those children whose parents encouraged them to diet were much more likely to [...]

posted on June 30th, 2008 at 10:50 am