another email to principal... this time regarding easy child!

[ksm]

I swear, I have gone thru the last eight years without hardly any problems with the girls and school. Last night, easy child came home from grade school, upset because the PE teacher gave her a form that said she was in serious risk of being obese! She did have a weight gain about two years ago. She will be 12 in two weeks... and she has hardly gained any weight in a year and a half. I think it was all hormonal. She started her period the month she turned 11 which was a year ago. She is 5 ft tall and weighs 115 pounds and is curvy and athletic in build. She exceeded the standardss for physical fitness in all the categories they tested in. She can outrun most the kids in her class and plays soccer with the boys during recess. I wish I could post a picture to show how lovely she is! She is solid, muscular, curvy and looks nice in a swim suit. Her older sister weighs 10 less... but she has a pudgey tummy and little to no stamina in PE class. easy child has lost all the little girl pudge from two years ago. It shows her BMI as 22. And the form says High Risk! In fact, I checked the standard height/weight charts and for age 12 she is within

I sent an eamil that I thought this type of form should be mailed to the parents instead of handling it to preteen girls who already face impossible body image standards. It says the average 11 year old girl is 52" tall and weighs 79#. I just think it is too much pressure to put on preteen girls. It is hard enough being that age without this extra burden on not fitting the "norm". KSM

 

[InsaneCdn]

Gaaa!
What planet are you living on?
I'm in "dinosaur country" (we're WAY behind on most things...) and even here, they dropped THAT stuff at least 20 years ago.

To counteract... take the form and the kid to the regular doctor, and let the doctor tell the kid that the school is 100% wrong...

 

[AnnieO]

The average 11-y/o girl is 52" tall - or 4'4". Um. Onyxx was right at 60" tall - 5 feet.

My IVF doctor reminded me that, yes, 155 lbs was a tad heavy for my height - that of 5'3" - but that muscle weighs more than fat, and my BMI right now is 30. I'm "obese". Except... I'm 20 weeks PREGNANT. So 155 was overweight - not.

BMI is useless to me. Oh, and the calculator I used for the above?

Normal weight = 18.5–24.9

http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

That school needs some brains, in my opinion.

 

[keista]

I've been opting out of these screenings because of this. Not to mention they now require me to sign off that I've talked to the pediatrician or a nutritionist. Although I opt out for some reason DD2 got screened this year - maybe I forgot to opt her out???

Anyway you are right that these forms should be MAILED to parents and not sent home with the kids. I also really hate this BMI. It absolutely does not take into account a person's entire body makeup = bones, muscles, and fat. Most of our pro-basketball players have BMIs that put them in the obese range. Go figure.

 

[ksm]

THis "form" says that difficult child should be in the 14.5 to 20.4 on the BMI. This is the actual print out. "ALyssa, your body composition score needs improvement. If it is maintained at this level you will have increased risks of future health problems. Regular physical activity can reduce risks and may help with weight loss."

Maybe I should send the school board a letter and say, "the way you handle this information needs improvement. It you maintain sending out this archaic information, you are at risk of hearing from my attorney! Regular and repeated stupidity increase your risks ofnot being relected to your current position."

I have never been given the chance to opt out of this type of testing. I am not sure that they do this at the upper levels of school. But I will find out! KSM

 

[keista]

Maybe I should send the school board a letter and say, "the way you handle this information needs improvement. It you maintain sending out this archaic information, you are at risk of hearing from my attorney! Regular and repeated stupidity increase your risks ofnot being relected to your current position."

And that note is obviously from someone who does not know that your daughter already participates in sports. I hate it when these ppl that are supposed educate our kids are more ignorant than them!

 

[ksm]

This form says she did 50 Pacer Laps. Not sure what that is - but I remember she was proud that only one other student did more laps than she did (out or 40+ kids!) and on the apdominal curl up - healthy range was 15 or more and she did 35! She exceeded all the minimal standards to be "healthy". Only to be told she is fat. Well, not is that exact word... but implied she is not healthy. KSM

 

[AnnieO]

First of all, 14.5 is UNDERWEIGHT for 5-feet tall. Talk about promoting an UNHEALTHY body image!

I love the letter to the school board - SEND IT! OK, maybe reword the re-elected sentence, but... Sheesh. Also, our pediatrician recently gave Onyxx a HUGE lecture about how BMI is useless for athletes, anyone in a wheelchair, and (ahem) CHILDREN...

 

[TeDo]

ksm, I would send that letter to the teacher with copies to the principal and school board with the appropriate rephrasing aimed at the teacher. That is just so plain wrong. Was it part of a lesson on healthy bodies or something and not a screening? {{{HUGS}}} to you both.

 

[SuZir]

It is just stupid, when they take some statistic and just look at it and not the situation.

Yeah, young kids BMI (if you want to use that tool), should be under 17, but girls whose periods have started are not little kids any more. Their height and weight should be looked more as they were adults. While they are still growing, they also tend to already have some womanly curves and adult type of body.

BMI is a good enough tool. It goes awry with very tall people, very muscular men and very short people, but for others range tends to be enough. Especially if you don't freak with BMI being 25-30 for active person with more stocky frame. But of course you always have to also look. My easy child's BMI is now around 25 and if he continues with his sport he will likely soon have muscles that will make him 'overweight' according to BMI, but that is something where you just have to look the person and notice that it is not him really being overweight. difficult child is taller and his BMI is around 23, but in reality that means he is skinny and much more slightly built than his brother by nature. It shouldn't be too hard for health care professionals to look the person and not only statistics. BMI is good for statistical use (because there are not so many NBA pros around there to really mess it up) and it is good for personal level to take notice, if you are not inside the range. Like with ksm easy child, she is not in the range for her age, and the person doing the testing should have noticed it, then noticed that she is much taller than the average, looked the kid and noticed that she looks like early developer and looked the charts for older kids with the same height as ksm's easy child. Every one knows kids in that age are often in very different places in their physical development. It is absolutely not possible to say, that 11-year-old should be this and this height. Some girls are already well on their puberty in that age, some boys are not even starting yet, and that is normal. And if the puberty is starting too early or late, it is health professionals business, not PE teachers.

And any case, giving that kind of letter to the kid herself and not sending it to parents without showing it to the kid: Argh! Really, what are they thinking!?!

 

[slsh]

I think this is a classic example of schools crossing a major boundary. Their job is not to weigh our children. They don't have medical degrees, they don't have our kids' full medical histories. The PE teacher is essentially giving medical advice. I'd be abso*lutely* livid if I got that letter either via my kid or through the mail.

If they're so concerned about obesity, quit serving junky school meals and more importantly - lead by example! How many teachers and admin folks have appropriate BMIs?

 

[greenrene]

One of my nieces is 12 and much like you describe your easy child - she's the biggest kid in her class, curvy yet VERY athletic, strong, a star athlete (volleyball and basketball), and runs 5k's on a regular basis. She is BEAUTIFUL, but of course, living here in the Land of Bare Flesh and Bikinis, there are those who say she's "fat," so she gets insecure about her body. Your easy child's school has NO BUSINESS doing what they've done, and you have every right to be livid. I sure would be.

 

[TerryJ2]

Arrrgh! I am so sorry. Arnold Scwartznegger and his type would all be considered obese by old standards.
If your daughter is athletic and otherwise healthy, I'd tell her to ignore the note, and show her the new standards. Sigh.
I'd gather some info and stop by the athletic dept, too.