Have You Received a 'Fat Letter' Regarding Your Child?

There are some state legislators looking to ban school districts from sending letters to parents regarding their children's Body Mass Index (BMI). Have you received this information about your child?

According to Superintendent John Doherty, the Reading school district provides BMI information to parents along with other "Fitness Assessment Materials."  

"This not only reports BMI, but other useful data," he said. "Strength, cardio vascular endurance and flexibility. At the secondary level this has been done via the FitStats Assessment Program that our parents can log in to. At the elementary level, the information is mailed home. At grades 1, 4, 7 and 10, the department of public health regulations state that BMI should be reported to parents."

This article on North Andover Patch reignited debate about these "fat letters."

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), obesity is a serious problem in the state and almost one-third of school-aged children are either overweight or obese, which puts them at risk for diabetes, heart disease, and more. Sending parents information about BMI is an initiative by the MDPH that is supposed to encourage parents to share the information with their children's primary care doctor.

Students have always been weighed and measured, but the information was not always shared with parents, according to MDPH. However, in April of 2009, the Public Health Council passed a regulation, which requires public schools to figure out students' BMI by measuring their weight and height, and then communicating that information to parents. This regulation is for students in grades 1, 4, 7 and 10.

According to the MDPH, BMI is a screening tool, not a diagnosis.

What do you think about this? Should parents be getting this information from schools, or should it be the parents responsibility to handle? Have you received information about your child's BMI from the Reading Public School system? Tell us in the comments section below.