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A number as vital as test scores

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published January 16, 2007

As the parent of a kindergartener, I figured it would be a few years before I needed to worry about the scores my daughter brought home - her A's and B's and FCATs.

But during report card week, I was surprised to learn there's another score to watch. The school nurse wanted me to know my daughter's BMI, or body mass index - the health of her waistline.

For the uninitiated, the BMI is a measure of body fat, calculated using a person's height in inches and weight in pounds. The state requires BMI screenings for students in kindergarten, first, third, sixth and ninth grades. The higher the number, the more overweight the person.

Parents don't need an abstract number to tell them that their son or daughter needs to lose weight.

All the prosperity and cheap, unhealthy food has turned America, the Home of the Brave, into the Home of the Overweight.

One in five children is overweight. And if a first-grader is too heavy, chances are he'll be overweight in sixth grade.

This BMI stuff isn't just about good looks. Chronically overweight children often end up with diabetes, high blood pressure or worse. For the record, my daughter's BMI was in the healthy range.

Unfortunately, our kids' waistlines have expanded considerably since President John F. Kennedy's Council on Youth Fitness encouraged youngsters to do situps while singing the Chicken Fat song, "go, you chicken fat, go."

Certificates for phys ed have largely been replaced by certificates for good citizenship.

I'd like to see the bumper sticker: "My honor roll student is physically fit."

So what are we doing about all this extra fat on our children?

Schools and parents have to aggressively tag-team this problem. Since many students eat breakfast and lunch at school, districts have been trying to offer healthier food options - more water and juices, less soda; pizza with whole-grain flour; more salads and vegetables. You can't buy a french fry in any of the Pasco County school cafeterias.

But eating too much of the wrong food is only part of the equation. All the overeating is compounded by too little exercise.

As schools cram in so much instruction for the FCAT, physical fitness programs get shortchanged. Recess, a time to run around and sweat, is a foreign concept for many youngsters.

Many boys and girls go through school never having participated in a footrace. Have your children ever tried the high jump or long jump?

Home is a good place for kids to learn about healthy living.

You don't see too many overweight parents walking around with skinny youngsters. Kids learn from us that it's okay to sit around for hours watching TV. They know if our favorite form of exercise is walking from the refrigerator to the barbecue grill.

We need to instill the idea of a healthy lifestyle - regular walking, running, swimming or biking. A pickup game of basketball or touch football gets them out of the house and away from the video games.

Let's give kids a hand by getting them off the couch.

If we do, then their BMI, like their FCAT and SAT, can be a measure of pride.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at (813) 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 16, 2007, 06:31:16]