school says granddaughter too fat

Since Mass passed this I have not heard about it being implemented. This is a load of crap and the BMI scale is horribly inaccurate. I expect to get a similar one for my daughter if they are rolling this out. According to this BMI calculator, she is in the 97th percentile and Obese. Let me get a letter from the school calling my daughter obese and see how quick I jump down their throat. My daughter is taller than all the other kids and by no means even chubby. I would say send some nasty mail to the Deval Patrick to tell them to butt out.

http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/Calculator.aspx

Why in the world would you jump down their throats? Childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic in North America. Yes, the BMI scale can be horribly inaccurate but it can also be an indicator that something may be wrong. For some families, such a note might be the wake-up call they need.

If your daughter is not obese and her doctor is happy with her weight, etc, then it's not an issue for you. In that case, say thanks for the note, but our pediatrician/family doctor is on top of things and we're happy with our daughter's development.

Please don't shoot down a program that's aimed at helping when estimates are that this generation of kids will be the first to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.

Parents who have obese children know they have obese children. This program is not "for the greater good" it's a boneheaded idea that is based off a bad scaling system. Since my daughter's pediatrician is perfectly happy with her, the school sending a note saying she is fat is not going to do anything but make her uncomfortable about her weight. This is out of line.

I don't think it's true that parents who have obese children know they have obese children. Or there wouldn't be so many parents claiming they didn't know there was a problem when things get out of control. I agree that there's no way the children should see the letter. This should be between the school and the parents but I don't agree that it's completely out of line.

I don't know how I feel about it. My daughter is in third grade and is 4 feet 6 inches and weighs 58 lbs. She's skinny but healthy and within normal limits. One of her friends, who is very short (about 3 feet 11), weighed in at 45 lbs. She asked me why she was "fatter" than her friend.

She then heard from another friend, who is very overweight, who confided in her, amidst tears, that she weighed 113 lbs. She is in the same grade as my daughter and is about an inch taller than she is. I don't know exactly what this is supposed to do-- make kids feel bad for themselves? It's beyond ridiculous. I think sometimes parents do need a slap in the face because we all have this want to say that our kids are the best and great just the way they are-- but when things just aren't right, they just aren't right.

Coming from someone who was overweight her entire life-- partially in childhood-- with a mother who made me feel awful while trying to be helpful about my weight-- i can honestly say I am simply hoping that our good lifestyle choices will help my daughter never to have that problem. I hated my mother for making me feel like a disgusting human being. As an adult, though, I can see that she was just desperate to make sure I turned out healthy. It's not a good place to be in.

This is a huge problem. We have schools pushing low fat, garbage, non-real, processed, GMO junk as "healthy" food. These kids are getting even more confused. It's awful.

I think that it is great the school is being pro- active in trying to establish healthy eating habits for your child and for your family. I would highly recommend watching the HBO special "The Weight of the Nation: Children in Crisis" (which can be seen for free at: http://theweightofthenation.hbo.com/films/main-films/Crisis).

I think you should tell the school that you will go by your (the child's) pediatrician's recommendations, and have the child checked by her pediatrician, letting the pediatrician know what the school said. While it's true that there is a lot of variability and that the family knows the child better than the school, the flip side is as we all know obesity is a huge (no pun intended) and growing health problem in our society and the problem begins for most people in early childhood. So- it's best to be sure. Check with the pediatrician.

^^THIS. Please do not be the parent who ignores what could be an important issue. Your physician may tell you the school is full of crap, or that a little less dessert might be in order. The school will have more respect for you, and work with you better on other issues, if they know that you are not simply discounting everything that they say.

I don't think it's true that parents who have obese children know they have obese children.

On borderline cases I agree, But really I think that parents with obese kids just don't know how to fix or don't care.

The average 4-year old doesn't read yet so unless the adults at home told her what was in the note, she would never know. I can imagine it would be a surprise to many adults to receive that note. I can imagine an adult getting defensive because they take it as an attack on their dear child or an attack on their own parenting. In the end, the point of the note is to draw attention to a concern not condemn you as a parent or attack your child.

Kids shouldn't have to think about weight, only about making healthy eating choices and getting exercise. Visit the pediatrician with the note in hand - see what their response is. Try to move past feeling offended and accept the home visit: what can it hurt? You might learn something. At the worst, you just pacify the school and that's not such a bad thing either. The school is trying to be helpful (coming from a former elementary school teacher). Childhood obesity is an epidemic and as parents, in many cases we have the cure. Allowing her to grow into that weight is usually recommended rather than a diet. The average child watches 4 hours of TV or other electronic devices each day - can you encourage outdoor play for some of that instead? Maybe enroll her in non-competitive soccer or dance?

Parenting is the hardest thing I have ever done and I second guess myself at leat 10 times a day. Try to accept this as the helpful suggestion it was intended to be. Best wishes to you and your family!

Parents who have obese children know they have obese children. This program is not "for the greater good" it's a boneheaded idea that is based off a bad scaling system. Since my daughter's pediatrician is perfectly happy with her, the school sending a note saying she is fat is not going to do anything but make her uncomfortable about her weight. This is out of line.

Myself being a fat kid who was routinely tortured for it, I can straight up tell you that if this program make even one set of parents step back and realize the **** they are putting their kids through, then I say good for the school. If your pediatrician tells you your kid is healthy, then there is no need for concern. However, I can understand the sentiment that it might upset the kid to tell them they are fat. I havent read any information on what the kid knows from the original poster. I would like to know what they have been told, and whether it came from the school officials, or whether it came from the parents after they opened the letter (if the kid knows anything at all). From what I have read, the child in question is 4 years old. At that age, my guess is they snuck in a weighing in inbetween nap time and macaroni sculptures and never even told him/her what it was about. By the end of the day the child could have forgotten all about it and the only thing they would have to remember it by is a sealed envelope that they are told to deliver to his/her parents that they cant even read.

If my parents had gotten this letter and realized I didn't need a 4th helping of porkchops and gravy, or a metric crapton of pizza every other day, perhaps I wouldn't have gone through all the stuff I went through. It seems like you have this in hand though, simply ask them not to weigh your daughter anymore and let the school try to get through to some parents that might actually need a wake up call

My son was teased in School for being thin even harrased about being anorexic because he was tall and thin. over 75% of the kids in that grade School were overweight. Kids get teased for weighing too much, not enough, hair style it dont matter. She is probably going to thin out when she has a growth spurth. Just teach her how important it is to be active each day. Schools should focus on teaching kids and providing healthy lunches. Take away recess and pe and serve sugary and high calorie foods is not going to help students at School. Maybe all the students brought home a similar letter of some kind?

The school is probably just following some policy they are told to follow; if it wasn't in the nurse or teacher's job description to weigh the kids and send ones outside a certain range home with notes I doubt they'd do it.

I was proportional as a little kid; nothing "protruded" more than anything else but I was proportionately fat compared to the other kids, and they noticed and teased me even if my parents never did notice. Talking to her doctor certainly couldn't hurt. Then you can always send her back to school with a note of your own, saying the doctor took care of it and to butt out in the future.

Going to a doctor isn't always the answer either. Some doctors are too dense to realize there's an issue too. Our doctor tells my 6' 280 lb husband that he's fine, never mentions that if he were 50 lbs lighter he might be able to breath and not be constantly complaining about sore knees and ankles. Pretty sure if I took an overweight kid in to him that he'd dismiss it especially if the parent was making all the noises of not thinking there was an issue. Obesity is one of those things that a lot of people *****foot around because saying anything is so poorly received which is what started this topic in the first place.

I agree some docs are not good. But it's a start. And pediatricians are uniquely trained to monitor growth and development.

Something no-one has asked..how does this correlate with her birthweight/length? If she is heavier than 99% of children then maybe thats because she always has been? if you take 100 points someone has to sit at each of them..

Wow, I've never heard of a school doing home visits just because of a child's weight. I'd cringe if they did height and weight checks at my son's school. He's 4 yrs old, 43" tall and 38.5 lbs and according to BMI is underweight. But he eats like a champ, so I don't know what a home visit would accomplish.

Since Mass passed this I have not heard about it being implemented. This is a load of crap and the BMI scale is horribly inaccurate. I expect to get a similar one for my daughter if they are rolling this out. According to this BMI calculator, she is in the 97th percentile and Obese. Let me get a letter from the school calling my daughter obese and see how quick I jump down their throat. My daughter is taller than all the other kids and by no means even chubby. I would say send some nasty mail to the Deval Patrick to tell them to butt out.

http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/Calculator.aspx

Why in the world would you jump down their throats? Childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic in North America. Yes, the BMI scale can be horribly inaccurate but it can also be an indicator that something may be wrong. For some families, such a note might be the wake-up call they need.

If your daughter is not obese and her doctor is happy with her weight, etc, then it's not an issue for you. In that case, say thanks for the note, but our pediatrician/family doctor is on top of things and we're happy with our daughter's development.

Please don't shoot down a program that's aimed at helping when estimates are that this generation of kids will be the first to have a shorter lifespan than their parents.

Parents who have obese children know they have obese children. This program is not "for the greater good" it's a boneheaded idea that is based off a bad scaling system. Since my daughter's pediatrician is perfectly happy with her, the school sending a note saying she is fat is not going to do anything but make her uncomfortable about her weight. This is out of line.

whats out of line is creating a generation that will live shorter then the previous because feeding children cookies makes them happy.

okay seriously?

she's 4 years old. i retain lots of water because i just DO NOT SWEAT. neither does my mother.
so until i was in 9th grade, i looked so large. big cheeks, big belly, big everything...then it just LEFT my body. everyone thought i had done something to lose it and i was just like..."nope...its called PUBERTY."

"Parents who have obese children know they have obese children. This program is not "for the greater good" it's a boneheaded idea that is based off a bad scaling system. Since my daughter's pediatrician is perfectly happy with her, the school sending a note saying she is fat is not going to do anything but make her uncomfortable about her weight. This is out of line."


This statement is not true. I work in the healthcare industry and many parents are incredibly ignorant as to how much food to feed their kids and how fat they should be. We need more education.