An "important" letter from school today

[zachnsamsmommy]

Well...my older DS is overweight, and that is between me, him, and the pediatrician...not the school or the school system. I am aware he is overweight, and the pediatrician and I have discussed it.

I would be furious to get a letter like that from the school. Even my DS knows he is overweight, and he is also a sensitive kid. It would devastate him to get a letter about his weight or BMI from the school.

Like I said...it is between our family and the pediatrician. NOT the school's business.

 

[Pigeon]

We get the letter every year. We call it jokingly the "Caroline is on the verge of keeling over at any moment" letter. Anyway, we usually celebrate the arrival of the letter with a trip to McDonalds or out for pizza. Then, we ceremoniously chuck it while she does a back walk over into a split in the kitchen. (seriously!)

This is wonderful.

 

[Planogirl]

I agree that this is none of the schools' business but why are people so surprised? Haven't any of you noticed the talk of taxing drinks with sugar and listing ingredients in restaurants and the bit about measuring people (currently done in another country) and so on? This is a VERY slippery slope and I fully expect to see more and more government entities and organizations that want to "help" getting involved.

 

[iwrbnd]

What does the school expect you to do? This whole weight thing is so hard. In my family I feed all my kids the same and yet one child has a BMI index of 0...you heard that right...0! (He's over 6 ft and weighs 110 lbs) and my daughter has struggled with weight her whole life! (I noticed this as young as 18 months) I feed them all healthy and the outcome is so different.

 

[Va-bear]

People are always saying that today kids are bigger then ever. So I'm guessing the schools are trying to help. I'm not going to fault a school for tyring to help a student that they see as at risk. There are so many parents that don't care about there kids and have no idea what is consider overweight.

I agree. There are some parents who need this extra help - if it's not you, ignore the letter but be glad that some child may be helped by it.

I remember back in the 70's they did scholiosis (sp?) exams at my school and though they only found one child who had it, imagine how grateful she and her parents were that they caught it early and she could be hleped by a brace, rather than needing surgery.

 

[tmarquez]

We got the fat letter too...a few times.

It had little check boxes that we were supossed to check off what we planned on doing about it...and we were to sign it as well.

Well I ignored it because I feel it's none of their business. So they sent it again...and again...

I think what I'll do is collect all the candy I find in DD's backpack that the teacher gives her for "rewards" and send that back with the form next time.

 

[mjkacmom]

We get the letter every year. We call it jokingly the "Caroline is on the verge of keeling over at any moment" letter. Now, my DD is 10, she's 5'2" and she weighs right about 130. She is incredibly athletic and dances 4 classes per week including a seriously demanding acrobatics class. There is not an ounce of fat on her body. She is one long, lean muscle. Somehow the muscle weighs more than fat idea hasn't gotten to the schools (don't get me started on the question of WHY the schools are tracking kids' BMI to begin with). Anyway, we usually celebrate the arrival of the letter with a trip to McDonalds or out for pizza. Then, we ceremoniously chuck it while she does a back walk over into a split in the kitchen. (seriously!)

It's not the case with your dd, but most people who are 5'2" and 130 ARE overweight. Dd13 is 5'3", 120, and could stand to lose a few (or stand up straight ). She prefers low rise jeans and long fitted shirts, and I can tell when she's had a large lunch. She doesn't exercise, except to walk to and from school, to her friends' homes, and to Ritas, TCBY, etc.

I have a friend who is very overweight, her DH and 4 children are very overweight. Her 5th child is chubby. She thinks her child is skinny, and tries to fatten her up, because she is so much smaller than the rest.

I think it's hard for parents to realize their kids are overweight - ds11 used to wear slims, and was very scrawny. However, from 2nd - 5th grade, he gained 10 pounds a year, and 4 inches a year. Weight gain tends to be gradual. I used to let him eat as much as he wanted, and it took me a couple of years to realize what was happening. He's now about 5'1", 120, and he knows he needs to drop a few pounds (or grow without gaining). He no longer eats as much as he wants.

 

[laracroft]

So glad I am not the oly parent who is going through this. I also got a letter sent home that my DS was overweight.

We got the fat letter too...a few times.

It had little check boxes that we were supossed to check off what we planned on doing about it...and we were to sign it as well.

Well I ignored it because I feel it's none of their business. So they sent it again...and again...

I think what I'll do is collect all the candy I find in DD's backpack that the teacher gives her for "rewards" and send that back with the form next time.

I love this! LOL this is funny!

 

[luvmy3]

We got the fat letter too...a few times.

It had little check boxes that we were supossed to check off what we planned on doing about it...and we were to sign it as well.

Well I ignored it because I feel it's none of their business. So they sent it again...and again...

I think what I'll do is collect all the candy I find in DD's backpack that the teacher gives her for "rewards" and send that back with the form next time.

I wonder if that teacher and all the other's get a BMI letter in their mailbox
Our taxes are paying their salaries and Ins, maybe the public should require all employees paid with tax dollars to be subjected to BMI tests with letter sent home to their families



No offense to any teachers here, I am sure most of you care personally about your students, I'm just trying to point out just how ridiculous this is.

 

[Pigeon]

I agree. There are some parents who need this extra help - if it's not you, ignore the letter but be glad that some child may be helped by it.

I'd like to see some peer reviewed research showing that this mass measuring and sending out of letters causes permanent weight loss among school children before we squander more funding to do it.

There's a cost-benefit component to all the screening. It may catch a few kids here or there (who might have been caught a bit later by going to their own doctors) but that doesn't mean that it is worth doing in general.

 

[pigletgirl]

Wow, I have never heard of such thing! That is WAY over the top, IMO. I don't think gym teachers are adequete enough to assess body weight and BMI....

 

[mjkacmom]

Wow, I have never heard of such thing! That is WAY over the top, IMO. I don't think gym teachers are adequete enough to assess body weight and BMI....

Well, in defense of the gym teachers, they just need to be able to read a scale and a tape measure, and input the results into the computer, or do it mathmatically. It's pretty objective. What a gym teacher can't do is assess if someone has too much body fat.

 

[claudia]

Yep, we got one too. My dd, at 5'9" and 138 lbs is considered 'heavy'!!! We pretty much just tossed that letter out. Way to encourage eating disorders!!!

That was me in HS (almost 40 years ago)...and my mom told me I was fat and put me on a starvation diet and shamed me for being so "big"....needless to say I have a serious eating disorder today....thank God for mom's like you!!

 

[georgina]

I put 5'9" and 138 pounds in a BMI calculator and got 20.4, which is way in the normal range. So most likely they made an error in height and weight, or your home scale is way off!

Our school district mails these letters home (required by the state).

I do agree that many parents of overweight kids think they are fine, or that they will grow out of it. I keep my mouth shut!

 

[Liberty Belle]

I think it's good that schools are trying to help students that might be a little over weight. Everyone keeps saying well that bewteen my and my child Dr. How is teh school supposed to know if the child see a Dr. on a regular basis

I think I know what you said.


Well, the school could ask for a yearly check report or something, however I would be opposed to that, as well. The school's job is to educate. The parent and physician's job is to manage the child's health.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I am fully expecting this letter, the school has let us know they are on the way. I am betting we get the "overweight". DD12 is 5' 3 or 4" and 130. She has an awesome shape - though full figured through the hips, thighs, and bum. However, she is solid and very much in shape from hours of intense dance every week.

I started to bring it up in front of the pediatrician once, but she cut me off in a way to say it was nothing to worry about - and also that she didn't want to go into something like that unnecessarily in front of DD.

If my pediatrician - who knows my DD - isn't worried and sees no reason to even discuss it, then I am not worried at all.

I understand why the schools are concerned, but there has to be a better way! I also agree the schools job is to educate and not manage our kids health, but we let them every year by telling us we have to have our kids vaccinated in order to attend! I disagree with that much more than sending home information meant only to inform.

I don't blame the teachers/school nurses at all for this - they are just doing what they have been mandated to do!!!

ETA: the same reason my pediatrician would not go into it in front of DD is the same reason this should not be done! You don't want to cause any more eating disorders than we already have by telling perfectly healthy children that they are overweight or obese!!!!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Yes, I do

You do? Because they get a letter? What is the thought process behind this?

 

[All American]

I'd hand the teacher a swimsuit/bikini with a note attached:

Dear Teacher,

When you are comfortable instructing my child's class while wearing this, then we'll talk about his weight.

Sincerely,
Mom

 

[Darsa]

I'd hand the teacher a swimsuit/bikini with a note attached:

Dear Teacher,

When you are comfortable instructing my child's class while wearing this, then we'll talk about his weight.

Sincerely,
Mom

Perfect.

 

[lillygator]

And if the schools are so all-fired concerned about the health of American children, then they need to have daily PE and more than one skimpy recess a day. And they need to serve a more healthy menu for breakfast & lunch. And they need to have a better assessment of health than a measurement that only measures fat. Anyway, if the school used the BMI (instead of a fat-measuring method), the BMI was never intended to be used as a diagnostic tool for individual's health and is poorly-suited to be used as such. Wikipedia has a great well-researched article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index .

One reason kids are overweight is there is no recess anymore. I remember in the 70s we got 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon. And we had PE for an hour.

really? According to the pe thread, kids are subjected to PE daily.