Fat Report Card

[RedJacket]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

I saw that little girl on the news, and she's not fat.

I just watched an online video with her and her mom in it. No, she isn't fat. I can't believe some schools in MA have to do this BMI thing in order to receive state funds. Talk about a nanny state.

The government is slowly but surely intruding into all aspects of a persons life.

I'm certainly no hardcore conservative, but there's no doubt the government at both the federal and state level are out of control.

[HenryAlan]

I think her mom misunderstood the data on the report. If the girl has a BMI of 19.43, then she isn't borderline fat at all. I'd like to see the report card in question. My children received these, and at least one of them was around that BMI and it said she was a healthy weight. The real issue with kids, though, is change from baseline. It will be a few years before these reports are usefull.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by think first

I just watched an online video with her and her mom in it. No, she isn't fat. I can't believe some schools in MA have to do this BMI thing in order to receive state funds. Talk about a nanny state.

The government is slowly but surely intruding into all aspects of a persons life.

I'm certainly no hardcore conservative, but there's no doubt the government at both the federal and state level are out of control.

No, she isn't fat at all. I'm sick of all these schools trying to act like parents to these children. Kids should be going to school to learn...and that doesn't including telling someone they are fat. Most kids who are fat know they are overweight, and the parents know this also. Sending home a report card with this won't change anything. The government has tried the war on poverty...failure, the war of drugs....failure, and now they are trying to tackle obesity. That will just be another failure.

When I was young we were always involved in some sport and after school were always outside playing something. This was in the winter, summer, spring, and fall. It really didn't matter. I still played video games, but that was more when the weather was bad and after I had been outside for 7 hours running around.

The government will fail with this also and has no right into our lives. Yes the parents fail sometimes, but that still does not give a reason for the schools to step in. I believe it was in the 1970's that the Federal Government came out with the food chart telling people to eat more carbohydrates and stay away from meats. They pushed a low-fat diet. Well, that failed and they just keep changing the food chart. One diet doesn't work for every person.

[smarty]

I don't know why people keep telling me that I'm not FAT! I guess it is all relative! I'm less FAT than others. (only 10lbs over versus 50-100lbs over).

[Isitmeorarethingsnuts?]

Originally Posted by HenryAlan

Vision and hearing are not the only health indicators that impact learning. I see nothing wrong with adding other fairly quick and easy metrics to the physical fitness component of education. BMI, of course, is a crock of ****, but it can at least indicate a trend. A lot of kids are fat because parents don't know how to make healthy choices for them. Many parents aren't even aware that they are endangering their children. The school's primary mission is education, but for many kids, the traditional 3 Rs is not enough. Shouldn't we try to help them and reach them through other means when necessary?

I guess one thing I don't understand is why this country pushes diversity so hard then tries to dictate every aspect of everyones life. Who, what body of government, has the right to dictate what is right for the masses. As has been previously stated, the food chart changes at times. With that being said, those in charge must have been wrong when it was established.

Maybe an obese person is going to cost someone more in the long run. Maybe city people will cost others more because they are around more pollution. Are we all going to lock ourselves in our homes to avoid the toxins in the air?

Is it possible that a farmer that eats fried chicken and bacon but works with his back and breathes clean air could be just as health as an office person that eats off the current food chart and goes to the gym?

I guess I just don't understand why ANYONE has the right to dictate such private things to someone else. Will we come to a day when we will all look and act like Ken and Barbie because someone has determined that they are the most appealing to ..to who?

We all have different ways of living and thinking. And,NO, it is not because we are ignorant. To imply ignorance implys one way of thinking.
We want diversity so why is it so tough to realize one persons habits are no worse than a habit we have of our own. Do those that believe that they are responsible for educating everyone to their own beliefs not realize that stress kills? They need to take care of their own problems (economy and jobs would be nice).

[LeavingMA]

The government is trying to dictate this type of stuff to adults' lives also. They want to put extra taxes on so-called "bad foods" like soda, candy, etc. Well, where do you draw the line. What is unhealthy. I work out consistently and eat well most of the week, but still want my day when I can enjoy fast food or ice cream...and I should without someone telling me its bad and I need to pay extra for that.

The same people that pass these laws are the same people who have overweight kids or don't eat correctly to begin with.