Potential success only skin deep
Measuring and monitoring children’s body mass index (BMI) is a convenient check box for the Seattle school district to show they are addressing the obesity epidemic [“Tread carefully with body-mass assessments,” Opinion, editorial, Dec. 17], but they have not done their homework.
The district’s response to community concerns regarding BMI measurement should be: Are there outcomes to show the BMI measurement leads to fitter, healthier children? Is BMI a good measure for obesity? Does school-based BMI measurement set some children up for teasing or exacerbate unhealthy weight-loss strategies?
District officials are ignoring these hard questions in their zeal to embrace the war on obesity. We risk harming our children for questionable benefit of an intervention that looks good on the surface, but is really a minefield.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against BMI measurement, it clearly recommends that parental consent be obtained before obtaining these measurements —opting in versus the current program of opting out.
At a minimum, the Seattle school district should be following these guidelines.
— Carol Achtmeyer, Seattle