Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Arkansas may end obesity reports

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 6, 2007

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansas - the first state to send home obesity report cards to warn parents of overweight kids' health risks - may ditch the plan or weaken it with the help of the new governor.

Gov. Mike Beebe said the school weigh-ins and report cards had "a lot of negative, unintended consequences" and hurt some children's self-esteem. He favors letting parents drop out of the program more easily and wants the state to test children less often.

His predecessor, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, said reversing the trendsetting, 3-year-old effort, "would be a huge step backward."

It's worth noting that Beebe, a Democrat, has no weight problem. Huckabee, a Republican, used to weigh 280 pounds, and before he began campaigning for president he campaigned against the ills of obesity.

Since Arkansas adopted its school-based antiobesity program, California, Florida and Pennsylvania have launched similar efforts. And public health officials in Arkansas point to a slight drop in the state's childhood obesity rate since the program got going.

But some lawmakers say that telling parents their children weigh too much could hurt children's self-esteem. Some also question whether it's the role of schools to monitor students' weight or if it even makes a difference.

Supporters of the current program, like Dr. Karen Young at Arkansas Children's Hospital, say fat children have self-esteem problems regardless.

"The kids who are overweight are already being teased," said Young, who directs a pediatric fitness clinic. "These poor children, they're suffering. It doesn't take the letter for them to suffer."

Young has gained a number of young patients trying to lose weight since schools began requiring the BMI reports.

Arkansas' program began in 2004 after the Legislature directed public schools to weigh and measure children, calculating their BMI, or body-mass index, a number used to determine whether their weight is appropriate for their age.

Huckabee championed the program as he dropped 110 pounds after being diagnosed with diabetes.

The Arkansas House last week approved a bill that would repeal the BMI report cards altogether, horrifying health experts who see the program as a wakeup call for families.

Young said that 13 percent of the children who come to her fitness clinic do so after getting the obesity report cards from school.

[Last modified February 6, 2007, 00:05:36]