New School Report Card Measures Weight
Do BMI Report Cards Make Kids Healthier?
POSTED: 3:50 pm EDT September 17, 2009
UPDATED: 5:33 pm EDT September 17, 2009
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BOSTON -- Parents across Massachusetts can expect to get a new type of report card this school year.
Watch ReportNewsCenter 5’s Heather Unruh reported Thursday this is the first year Massachusetts is requiring schools to advise parents when children are at risk of becoming overweight.In Somerville, the issue arose five years ago. That’s when the city launched Shape Up Somerville, a now nationally recognized campaign started after city leaders received startling statistics.“More than 40 percent of our first- or-third graders ... were at risk of being obese,” said Mayor Joseph Curtatone. “That's higher than the national average.”The childhood obesity epidemic stretches far beyond Somerville. Statewide, 30 percent of children ages 10 to 17 are overweight.In an effort to combat the problem, Massachusetts is joining other states in issuing BMI report cards on students to all children in first, fourth, seventh and 10th grades.Somerville has been sending children home with BMI report cards for half a decade.“When the report goes home to parents they see how the child did on the endurance fitness test and also the BMI score as it relates to other children their age,” said Tim O'Keefe, the city’s supervisor of fitness health and education.Critics argue BMI report cards won't make kids healthier or encourage them to lose weight. In fact, some say the yardstick simply humiliates overweight and obese students.A similar program in Arkansas was labeled a failure after it failed to reduce the number of overweight children in that state.But Somerville officials insist it's not just about report cards. Getting kids healthy, they say, has to be a community-wide commitment.“The changes in children's habits in snack time alone has improved,” said school nurse leader Gay Kote.“We’ve taken a broad, holistic approach in every neighborhood, every school creating an environment that gives you incentives to make good choices, playing hard and eating smart,” said Curtatone.Somerville has received a new grant called Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities. The goal is to reduce childhood obesity by 2015.
Watch ReportNewsCenter 5’s Heather Unruh reported Thursday this is the first year Massachusetts is requiring schools to advise parents when children are at risk of becoming overweight.In Somerville, the issue arose five years ago. That’s when the city launched Shape Up Somerville, a now nationally recognized campaign started after city leaders received startling statistics.“More than 40 percent of our first- or-third graders ... were at risk of being obese,” said Mayor Joseph Curtatone. “That's higher than the national average.”The childhood obesity epidemic stretches far beyond Somerville. Statewide, 30 percent of children ages 10 to 17 are overweight.In an effort to combat the problem, Massachusetts is joining other states in issuing BMI report cards on students to all children in first, fourth, seventh and 10th grades.Somerville has been sending children home with BMI report cards for half a decade.“When the report goes home to parents they see how the child did on the endurance fitness test and also the BMI score as it relates to other children their age,” said Tim O'Keefe, the city’s supervisor of fitness health and education.Critics argue BMI report cards won't make kids healthier or encourage them to lose weight. In fact, some say the yardstick simply humiliates overweight and obese students.A similar program in Arkansas was labeled a failure after it failed to reduce the number of overweight children in that state.But Somerville officials insist it's not just about report cards. Getting kids healthy, they say, has to be a community-wide commitment.“The changes in children's habits in snack time alone has improved,” said school nurse leader Gay Kote.“We’ve taken a broad, holistic approach in every neighborhood, every school creating an environment that gives you incentives to make good choices, playing hard and eating smart,” said Curtatone.Somerville has received a new grant called Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities. The goal is to reduce childhood obesity by 2015. Copyright 2009 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
