Obesity Letters Assume Parents Can’t See Their Children

A school district in Arizona is implementing a controversial program that has the world talking: they will be weighing students and sending notes home to parents — too big, too small, and just right. The editorial board at the Arizona Daily Star is in support. The Daily Caller is not.

According to this link, Arizona is right in the middle of the obesity chart, with 25-29 percent of its members qualifying with a BMI of over 30. BMI is simply a measure of your height and weight, where “appropriate” weights are established for each heights. For a large population, the BMI measurement is reasonable, but it has a number of shortcoming — as many NFL athlete’s who are in remarkable shape would be labeled as obese due to their muscle mass.

Shaming parents and children is unlikely to solve whatever problem the school board believes is its responsibility to solve. If they want to help, they could start with calling attention to the removal of food subsidies, many of which go directly to the same foods that are publicly demonized and attributed to obesity.

See: Why a Big Mac Costs Less Than a Salad

Image credit: knezovjb’s flickr photostream.