Texas lawmaker wants BMI on report cards
AUSTIN -- 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.
"We should be just as concerned with students' physical health and performance as we are with their academic performance," she said.
More than a third of school-age children in Texas are overweight or obese, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Arkansas implemented a similar law during the 2003-2004 school year, although the information is sent to parents separately from report cards.
Eric Allen, a spokesman for the Association for Texas Professional Educators, said most parents don't need to be told their child is overweight.
"It doesn't have a place on a report card," he said.
Okay, I send my kid to school to get educated. Not lectured about their body size as compared with some arbitrary "standard." I want my kids to be able to read well, to be able to do math and think logically, to understand biology and chemistry and physics. I do not want my kids to be indoctrinated politically, and I also don't want them encouraged to become obsessed with their BMI number, which really isn't that good of an indicator any more than the MetLife tables were prior to its adoption as the standard.
Backing up, I don't see a problem with teaching good physical care of oneself. However, in this case, the people who are just naturally thin and don't have to work at it -- they'll get great BMI numbers, while those whose BMIs are higher will be set up for failure and ugly comparisons. It's just not in the same category as a grade in a class. Phys-Ed grades are usually scored not only on one's particular physical condition but on whether the individual shows a willingness to participate and work hard, regardless of where they start. If they're already getting a grade in PhysEd, then why bother everyone with just one more state requirement? If the PE teacher is truly concerned about a student, they can contact the parent privately without having to record it for posterity on a report card.
Another possible problem is that there is a great deal of "fat bias" out there. Say a university is looking at prospective students and comes across a valedictorian who also happens to have a BMI of 50. It's not out of the realm of possibility for that student to get "overlooked". I know most people will think I'm just over-sensitive, but I never saw anyone wearing a "No Skinny Chicks" t-shirt when I was growing up. I sure saw a lot of the other kind, though. Made me feel really beautiful, too. Yup.
I'm NOT pushing for special "fat acceptance" crap. Society is not under any obligation to accomodate every individual's particular situation. If I had been born with a tail, I'd've had it surgically removed. I wouldn't walk around, demanding that clothing manufacturers make allowances for people with my condition. Sure, I couldn't help having the condition, but that shouldn't force anyone else to change what they're doing. It's my job to adapt and change.
While we're on the subject, is there anyone who can explain to me why the "BMI" is better than the old comparison tables that MetLife used to do? Seems the same, to me, just doctored-up by some eggheaded calculations that really don't mean a thing. Doesn't measure my genetic propensities, my life situation, anything except height and weight. Why can't we dispense with the artificial standards and just encourage people to be healthy regardless of their physical size?
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