Massachusetts scrap controversial student obesity letters

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A vote by the Public Health Council of Massachusetts ended a four-year-old state program aimed at reversing the obesity epidemic. They voted to end letters that Massachusetts public schools sent parent’s about their child’s weight, following criticism that the practice led to bullying and excessive costs for schools. Public schools will still be required to continue student weight and height screenings in grades 1, 4, 7, and 10 to help officials gather data regarding obesity trends and identify possible system-wide solutions. New rules allow school districts to make the information available to parents/guardians upon written request.

            While the program saw success of the percentage of students who are overweight or obese dropped 3.7 percentage points between 2009 and 2013, there were problems with the program. Schools stated it was too expensive to send the letters and instead sent them home in the child’s backpack and this sometime led to inadvertent disclosure of information to other students and teasing. The program intended to foster conversation between parents and the child’s physician about weight and exercise, but did not help change childhood obesity rates.

            It is great to see that states and school districts are trying to implement programs to help decrease childhood obesity. This program had some success, but with improvements, expenses could possibly be decreased and confidential information of the child could remain confidential and prevent bullying. Further efforts also need to be made to discuss weight and exercise of the parent and healthcare professionals. It would also be great if healthy lifestyle food choices were addressed in these programs.

Lazar, K. (2013, Oct. 16). Massachusetts scraps controversial student obesity letters. Boston Globe. Retrieved from: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/2013/10/16/massachusetts-scraps-controversial-student-obesity-letters/7A35q2d552eSMViKYAfiEJ/story.html
-MG

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