Texas lawmaker (D) seeks to put body mass index on students' report cards

[Newsjock]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/01/18/national2058EST0769.DTL

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas school districts would be required to include the body mass index of students as part of their regular report cards under a bill introduced Tuesday by a lawmaker seeking to link healthy minds with healthy bodies.

When the measurement, which calculates body fat based on height and weight, indicates a student is overweight, the school would provide parents with information about links between increased body fat and health problems, said Democratic state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte.

... Arkansas implemented a similar law during the 2003-2004 school year, although the information is sent to parents separately from report cards.

more

[RoyGBiv]

1. There ya go ...

Codify that low-self-image thing and intensify the pressures that lead to anti-social behavior and eating disorders.

"Hey, what'd you get on your BMI?"

"Oh, I'm up to a 20. I need to purge some more."

"HA! I got a 16. I'm looking good, but I want to drop a few points by prom. Got any ephedrine"

"Hey, did ya hear lardo over there got a 54?"

<"Lardo" sits behind the gym, polishing the new shotgun he got for Christmas, mumbling something about a stapler and setting the world on fire.>

Way to go.

[Zenlitened]

4. Then get 'em on drugs to treat low self-esteem and anti-social behavior

:eyes:

[RoyGBiv]

6. Abolutely!!!

Pills will solve everything, donchaknow.

:-)

[cvoogt]

8. nice Office Space ref

one of my favorite movies of all time

[PassingFair]

20. Jewish students issued

yellow stars.
This is insane.

[Catch22Dem]

28. Way to work in the Office Space angle...LOL

But, sadly, you're right. Couldn't help but laugh though.

[RoyGBiv]

29. I need a little laugh now and again ...

It's much preferable to the other image that was rolling in my head at the time about Columbine.

If I can't laugh during the next four years, I may as well give up. :-)

[Catch22Dem]

49. We view life the same way, it seems.

No matter how bad things get, I gotta look for some humor or I'll go nuts.

[johncoby2]

2. Yep. Our insurance rates have tripled and we have less coverage

And we have the dirtiest air and water in America.
And we have the worst schools in America.


but damn it if we are going to let our kids be overweight!

Sometimes I wonder....

[AliciaKeyedUp]

3. What an idiot

Tell you what, fix the BMI and then get back to me.

For those who don't know, the BMI mis-measures athletes who have lots of muscle. It counts them as overweight or fat.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. He doesn't have a very healthy mind, does he?

How about publishing the brain mass index of politicians when the run for office?

[MAlibdem]

12. indeed it does...

see post 9.

[amazona]

5. how many little girls did you kill today?

While I'm sure she is well-meaning, I'm wondering if she has any idea of the death rate of girls and women who acquire eating disorders. Bulimic/anorexic girls have a 1 out of 10 chance of dying of their illness, last I heard. And this is a social disease, spread by social pressure. Not by a virus or a bacteria.

Girls know they are fat. Don't put it on their report card. That is sentencing a certain proportion of the female population to death.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[MAlibdem]

9. Hmmm...

BMI is useful for most people, but not all. For example, my BMI is 27.1 (I'm 6', 200 lbs), indicating that I am overweight. I suppose I'm a bit chubby, but mostly I'm dense and play rugby. For example, I was approached by the crew coach during orientation who asked me to join because he was looking for "guys like me" : 6', 160lbs. I told him I was 195 (damn freshman 15). he was aghast, and didn't put me on the list (which was fine, i love rugby).

Basically, BMI is useful, but not an absolute.

[susanna]

I have a similar problem.

To look at me, I'm a solid and short 5'3". At my smallest (about a women's size 6), I still weigh 120-125. I'm built like a tank, mostly muscle. When I work out for toning purposes, I can GAIN weight yet get slimmer and go down a size! I don't know my BMI, but my weight is certainly a shocker to most doctors with their ever-present charts, and they've mentioned as much. By their calcs, my weight/height ratio should make me "overweight," yet I'm very healthy by all other tests/indicators ("EXTREME normal," as my GP puts it).

My sis used to work for an orthopedic doctor and he says his bet is that I have extremely heavy bones from years of serious gymnastics. I don't know if he's right, but folks are ALWAYS shocked if I tell them my weight. I weigh more, in fact, than a friend who is much more voluptuous AND taller! So it's really not something that averages well, I don't think. I look good, feel good, and could care less what a scale says. But I agree with an earlier poster that a lot of young people, especially women, are obsessed by the numbers.

My final thought is that this bonehead idea should be put to bed before it damages yet another generation of young people into chasing an impossible "averaged" perfection. Which is a contradiction in terms, I might add.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

47. I don't know my BMI but

I'm 5'7ish" and 180 lbs, but no one believes me. They say 150 tops.

[Sannum]

10. When I was in Middle School...

I was very close to developing an eating disorder because an adult told me that I was "getting big".

I had my BMI tested once. I am 5'3 and 110 pounds. Some charts would make me overweight. It isn't accurate, because I am tiny and the wind knocked me over today, but I am overweight according to the "chart".

This does NOT need to be passed.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

56. That's often how it starts

I remember a fellow student in high school whose eating disorder was triggered by her mother complaining about having to let out her 8th grade graduation dress. She was fairly typical -- a perfectionist daughter of a librarian and a Ph.D. in biology who saw that slight pudginess as a character flaw that had to be rectified.

[bluestateguy]

11. That's stupid nanny state kind of stuff

Talk about a story tailor made for Fox News and FreeRepublic.

But seriously, it's a bad idea. If she wants to improve physical fitness of children then invest in health care programs and promote physical education curriculum in the public schools. If a particular child is too fat, then by all means call a parent teacher conference to share the school's concern.

The Senator's idea seems like something they would do in North Korea: MUST RAISE HEALTHY CHILDREN TO FIGHT FOR THE LEADER.

[RoyGBiv]

13. Ayup ...

Gotta have healthy cannon fodder, after all.

Ya know, a good portion of the overweight problems in children could be solved if parents would STOP FEEDING THEM MCDONALDS AND FORCE THEM TO TURN OFF THE X-BOX ON SUNNY AFTERNOONS!!!!!

Sorry for the outburst.

I have always had a low metabolism and have flirted with a weight issue most of my life. But, when I was a kid, I played baseball. I knew how to climb a tree. I mowed lawns. I ate real food. Yeah, I played video games and stared at my computer and the idiot box, but mom and grandma would not allow me to avoid the outdoors or whatever it took to keep me active.

Now we feed kids depressants to calm them down rather than usher them out into the yard to run and be active and expend that energy, and then we take them to the local choke and puke and call it dinner.

Put that on a parental report card and send it home, but leave the kids out of it.

IMO.

/end rant

[susanna]

32. I loved your rant.

I think you're onto something.

[RoyGBiv]

36. Thankee ...

It's a repeating rant. It reached a fever pitch when the school my daughter attends installed vending machines with nothing but candy and chips and cola and cut the lunch and physical education programs.

Fortunately my daughter has developed a brain of her own and, I hope, has learned a few things from when she's staying with me. She learned how to cook, for one, so she eats better at home when circumstances require her to fend for herself. Little has made me prouder as a dad than to have my teenage daughter call me one evening for a reminder of what spices I put into the pasta sauce I'd taught her how to make. At that age I would have just ordered a pizza if my mom had had to stay late at work that evening.

As a child, my watching my grandma die slowly from diabetes made me more health conscious as an adult than I might have been otherwise, and I've tried to instill in my daughter the fact she has the same genes as I do and might want to work on the whole making sure you don't have kidney failure and have your limbs amputated thing while she's young and can do something about it.

Okay, I'm ranting again. :-)

[susanna]

41. Seriously, I don't mind your rants!

I also call my Dad on the phone (and I'm an much older woman than your daughter, LOL) to make sure of the spice for a pasta sauce or sauteed greens dish he taught me as a child...

One thing I have always loved about my childhood is that my parents fed me REAL food and taught me to prepare it. I find that, these days, it counts as one of the most loving things they ever did. I still do it for my family, because it feels right.

They also had a "don't mess with dinner" attitude, whatever else happened in our world. In recollection, it took a tornado, a suicide and a terrible car accident -- real situation(s) -- involving family to disrupt our dinner "time." I find I carry that over to this day. Unless someone is dying or the world is going to hell, dinner is from 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm. No phones, no TV, nothing. This is the time for the family to talk. So I still carry it on, whether or not anyone cares or is keeping track. :-)

[RoyGBiv]

42. Excellent tradition ...

Truly excellent.

My own experience was a bit different, but similar. My dinner time was when I got home from school. Grandma always had a meal prepared -- a real, bona fide, hot, full meal -- and we always sat down and ate together. We didn't always or even usually sit at a dinner table, but we were together, and there was nothing else going on but us talking about whatever had gone on in our days. Mom would come home, and it would repeat somewhat. She'd eat her dinner, and I'd eat my evening snack, and we'd talk.

That all may sound a bit weird, especially with the dinner about 4pm and a snack a couple hours later. The reason for it is that I was born with a genetic defect of sorts that left me with little to no appetite. Grandma was paranoid about me not eating (almost died a few times as an infant) and wanted to make sure I did so. I don't know when I'm hungry. I feel it when my blood sugar gets low, and I've sorta trained myself to "feel" it before that happens, which is to say I recognize the sensation of an empty stomach, and I try to follow a timeline for my personal meals that keeps that from happening. Oddly enough this lack of appetite actually led to my own struggle with weight due to it affecting my metabolism. But I digress.

I do this with my daughter when she's staying with me, but it's more difficult since she's not accustomed to it. Her mother is a college professor who is always taking classes herself, and she's always had weird hours. My daughter finds it an interesting "thing she does with dad," but after she's been here a few weeks, she wants to go back into her old habits of watching the idiot box during dinner. We end up compromising on the stereo, and we talk about the songs.

Anyways ... nice comparing traditions. :-)

[susanna]

64. Agreed, RoyGBiv...

This thread has sunk since I last posted, I hope you get a chance to see my reply!

I enjoy hearing other traditions as well...I like how you handle it, too, and I'll admit that I give in to music at dinner myself LOL. :-)

[LiberalFighter]

62. The other part of the solution...

reinstitute PE.

I couldn't believe it that they don't have PE at my son's HS. The problem is that they have only 4 periods in a day.

When I was in HS we had 7 periods and one of those was usually study hall and another was PE.

[ixion]

35. yep, exactly...

that's exactly the kind of crappy nanny state legislation that gives the pugs fodder.

[NC_Nurse]

14. Yeah, that's what chubby kids need

"NEWS FLASH: YOU'RE FAT"

That'll help...:eyes:

and why not add to the parents guilt and shame too? Bring the family together... Fab idea.

:crazy:

[MissB]

15. What would be more useful is if

they quit cutting PE classes. Or had some sort of nutritional awareness education for kids (sheesh- if you have a child in grade school you'll understand why kids need the help as they clearly aren't getting it at home). Get rid of soda/junk food machines.

The local school district offers all kids, K through 12, a free breakfast. (It used to be just a few schools, but I've been told that it spread to all the district schools). Income isn't a factor. The choices? Try: cinnamon roll, breakfast sandwich (with processed cheese and canadian bacon on a hamburger roll) or a breakfast burrito (can you say lard? Yes, yes you can).

There are plenty of reasons why there are more overweight kids today. Some of the reasons can be addressed at the school, some cannot. But putting the kids' BMI on their report card? Puleeze.

[sarcasmo]

16. More teasing of the fat kid.

These lawmakers are getting more and more stupid each year.

[Fleshdancer]

17. Because growing up doesn't SUCK enough as it is

how about giving schools enough money to continue physical education and not categorize ketchup as a vegetable portion in the school lunches? Actions like this work a hell of a lot better then humiliation of a child.

[NVMojo]

18. teachers have enough unnecessary paperwork with the NCLB, they

don't need to deal with kids and their body mass. Jeezus. Whackjobs ...

[AndyTiedye]

19. Let The Kids Dance!

It's very good exercise.

Stop shutting down raves and let the kids dance!

[RoyGBiv]

26. You got that right!

I had no idea. I mean, when I was a kid, my mode of dancing was the white boy shuffle. I got more exercise walking across the room.

My daughter, who has had the same weight problem I had as a child -- that is not fat, but always flirting with it -- got into going to (supervised) raves with her friends a couple years ago. (I had a long fight with her mother over that one.) The fat she had began dropping, and now she's got quite a bit of tone in her limb muscles.

She also seems happier, but of course who can really tell with a teenage girl. :-)

[genieroze]

46. But, but, but, doesn't that sort of thing lead to.....ummm SEX!!!!!!

God doesn't want people to dance only Satan does. lol

[AlienGirl]

21. This is both dumb and creepy

It's dumb because it adds to an already overburdened educational system, and it's creepy because it suggests that physical conformity is as important as educational achievement.

Tucker

[sendero]

22. Just goes to show..

... not all idiots are Republicans.

BMI is an absolute joke that is completely meaningless. It cannot tell muscle from fat and it is therefore useless. If this idiot weren't stupid, she'd know that.

Of course, even if it were a relevant number, putting it on a report card? People who are overweight know it, they don't need it on their report card. For crying out loud.

[OrwellwasRight]

23. This idea is wrong on more levels than I can count. nt.

[DemBones DemBones]

24. Stop cutting recess and PE programs and get rid of the crap machines

in the schools (soft drinks, cookies, chips, candy, etc.) but don't do this to kids. You might as well stamp "FATSO" on the overweight kids' foreheads. Where DO people get these ridiculous ideas?

[PROGRESSIVE1]

25. Texas is looking more like the fourth reich everyday.

[Freddie Stubbs]

61. The Senator who introduced this is a Democrat

[Robbien]

27. We should put his body mass index on his ID card

and let everyone see what his body mass index is as he goes around doing government business. I wonder if then he would be so eager to require that embarrassment happen to children.

[Kadie]

30. That is a good idea.

My mama always said you should practice what you preach.

[Isere]

31. Insane!

Counter-productive!

Wouldn't it be nice if they just taught the poor kids how to read and write and add and subtract?

[Gman]

33. DO NOT bash Leticia Van de Putte--- she led the walk out two years

ago of the Senate Democrats who tried in vane to stop DeLay's illegal gerrymandering plan. So she IS a great person.

Also, to those that don't know her, Leticia has always had a problem keeping her own weight under control so she is well intentioned on this one. San Antonio ranks 2nd or 3rd nationally on having the most obese people. At least this is an idea to try to get a handle on this not only local, but national problem.

[WildClarySage]

34. I won't 'bash' her, especially since I don't know her,

but this is an amazingly dumb idea. Do parents really not know when their kids are overweight? Is this going to prompt enough of a positive reaction from parents as to outweigh (no pun intended) the negative consequences? I don't think so.

[RoyGBiv]

43. Bad ideas ...

Bad ideas are bad ideas, well-intentioned or not. I'm not bashing her in thinking this is ridiculous, but the idea itself, imo, sucks.

Smart, well-intentioned people get it wrong sometimes. This, imo, is wrong.

[melissinha]

55. Hey Gman .. I know

I know Leticia too... yeah she has battled with her own weight.... Haven't seen her in ages but most of her 6 kids since the last time I saw some of them had acceptable BMI as far as I know.... I wonder what she would feel if this had been introduced when her kids were in grade school....

I have respect for her as a lawmaker.... she has been a beacon of shining light, but this is misguided.

[rockedthevoteinMA]

37. They should address the problem which causes children

to be overweight in the first place.

Most overweight (but not all) come from lower income families, who usually cannot afford, or don't have the time to make sure the nutrition is there for the children.

Junk food is a hell of a lot cheaper than veggies, meat, fruit, etc.

Think about it $3.00 would buy a bag of chips, candy bar and soda. What other kind of meal can a poor person get with three dollars.

This whole obesity obsession is just going to hurt these kids more - and that is NOT what they need.

[happyslug]

38. DRAFT IS COMING, THE DRAFT IS COMING, THE DRAFT IS COMING

With the BMI on Everyone's Report Card the Draft Boards will KNOW who to pick and who will PASS the Physical. If you are excessively overweight (or underweight) you can NOT get in the Military, thus by excluding those who will NOT meet the Military goals for BMI the Draft Board will be better able to select the "right" kids to be drafted.

Just another way Texas is helping the War against Terror.

[rainbow4321]

51. They already called wanting to talk to my 12th grader last week

Apparently, hanging up on them means nothing..cuz when I clicked the on/off button to cut off their call, they called right back. So I answered it and spoke to Sgt. whoever. NO, she is NOT interested...<silence on his end>--hanging up AGAIN on my end..

[happyslug]

52. I had a brother in law who was a recruiter

He had served in the Navy for 16 years when the Navy told him he had to be a recruiter for a few years. He was told he had to recruit so many people per month. If he failed it would go on his record. The Military forces use such 15-18 year in Service vets for several reasons, first they have the experience to tell new recruits, second they have had a long commitment to the Service thus have reasons to recruit and third, if they fail the Recruiter knows he will have to get out of the service. I always said the later was the chief reason, so many people like you say HELL NO, it gets to the recruiters and they either quit early (no 20 year pension) or they will definitely leave as soon as they earn their 20 year pension. That is what happen to my Brother in Law, he recruited for two years, ending up "Failing" as a recruiter (he could not lie enough) and demanded to go back to sea. He had two years to go before his retirement so he stayed in but his two years as a recruiter made up his mind that he was going to quit after he earned his pension.

[Jack_DeLeon]

39. rediculous fucking idea.

[bling bling]

40. Gawd...please someone just make her stop.

And they wonder why kids think adults are out-of-touch. Grrrrrr.

When I was in school they served lard-infested pizza with lard-infested fries on the side, every day, with a chocolate milk. Maybe he could START there, and not by mortifying the students.

[tlcandie]

44. Fine .. start in Texas but FIRST you get an IQ test to put on your

driver's license!!!! When you CAN stand that and appreciate how that makes YOU feel along with your BMI THEN you can implement this for the children! GROWNUPS FIRST!!!!!

Absolutely ridiculous!!!

[genieroze]

45. This is a Dem pushing this crap? Where's a Libertarian when ya need one?

[TankLV]

48. Will it include dick and boob size, too?!?!

And weather they are "natural" or not!

After all, can't ignore any parts now, can we?

[rainbow4321]

50. Thank God these fools only meet every OTHER year....

cuz they are a fucking embarrassment to us Texans when they are in session. This is so NOT what our teen girls needs..comparing body fat stats. Gee, maybe we should also start putting it on people's paystubs?? Starting with the state legislators, of course!!
These are the same ones who refuse to recite the Texas pledge at the start of their meetings...which would be NO big deal except they passed a friggin law MAKING Texas students recite it at the beginning of every school day. Their excuse was that they have too much political business to get done and can't spare the few minutes each day to do what they order the kids to do---nutshell: do as we say, not as we do.
Other potential laws out of this session so far: kids who get high scores on the state's standardized tests should get an extra 10 days off each school year so as to leave the teachers more classtime with the kids who are flunking the test-----ummm..so your kid excels and you get to figure out how to pay for 10 extra days of daycare per year???
Please let their little get together in Austin end SOON!!! Before they screw anything else up in this state!!


(rant off)

[melissinha]

53. OMG! I am related to her and am ashamed!

OMG! Leticia!! I was so proud of you for being the head of the Texas 11 in New Mexico standing up to DeLay.... but this is ludicrous!

I was reading this and totally appalled and then I see my own last name!!! (she's married to my dad's cousin) Shocked to say the least. COme ON!

I think parents already know these things... I thing BMI should be addressed in Health class and BMI information disclosed to children... but think of the repurcussions!!! If some bully got a hold of your report card, they cuold jsut read your BMI out loud! No no no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and this would happen every quarter.... NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! SAy it ain't so.

[w4rma]

54. Better idea: Sell healthy lunches at school. Ban soft drink machines from

school grounds. Pay teachers more. Subsidize school lunches to make up the difference in price between the cheap fatty lunches of today and the healthy ones that they should be implementing.

High on carbs, protein, fiber and vitamins. Low on simple sugars and complex fats.

[rainbow4321]

60. Too much money in those soft drink contracts....

for the schools to ban soft drink machines...our district gets a poopload of $$ from the soft drink company to have them in all of the middle and high schools.

[MADem]

57. Wow, that will put an end to showing your report card around!!

Wonder if they will add a class in binging and purging? Will the plumbing in the girl's room be able to take the puke?

I can't see why they have to put the information ON the report card. If they take the BMI in the context of a NUTRITION class, where kids learn about good foods, bad foods, the latest iteration of the food pyramid (how many times has that stupid thing changed?), the relationship between calories in and exercise, then there may be some utility there, but to just stamp the report card "FATTY" and send a sheet home to the parents is just NOT HELPFUL. In fact, during adolescence, it is downright cruel to some children.

For those who say BMI can be inaccurate, that's true, and it depends greatly on how it is measured, to say nothing of the skill of the person administering the exam. Tape measures are least accurate, followed by calipers, and a better method still is water displacement.

But consider the state. They just aren't running ahead of the curve, are they?

[bleedingheart]

58. clearly none of you have taken a child to the pediatrician lately

cuz most parents I know, including myself, have had the pediatrician discuss BMI or weight with parents.
My kids are sticks but the pediatrician makes a point to say that to keep my kids that way I need to keep up the good work...a friend of mine had an epiphany after the pediatrician told her that based on her daughter's weight and recenty history that they were going to do blood work to make sure that she didn't have Type II diabetes...(the girl had a propensity to drink a lot of water and had about three new eye prescriptions within one year that coupled with her weight...the doc was fearful that she had diabetes)....

[melissinha]

59. In her defense....

Although she seems to make it out as a problem with obesity, which she has dealt with personallly.... I think that the issue may also be something more dangerous... some of you have touched on it. I had to think about this for a little.

Leticia happens to be the mother of 6, 3 of which are girls... they are all out of school now. I can remember in the last time that I saw Leticia, one of them was quite on the skinny side... Now, how can one truly quantify an underweight person these days? I mean truly? Cause you've seen them.. they are as skinny as ever... and this is quite a serious health issue here! I am not saying that this happened to one of her daughters, I am not sure, but as a mother...I am sure that she has a different perspective about health than most of you do.

I agree that the report card is a BAD idea... however, I think that this is the type of information that can and should be exchanged at parent teacher conferences.

[muriel_volestrangler]

63. Speaking as someone who did have their height and weight recorded

on my report card, at a school I was at for 5 years, what's the big deal?