Toronto schools won’t send ‘fat letters’ home
As Toronto schools begin BMI testing, they have shied away from controversial letters sent home with overweight kids in the U.S.
Childhood obesity is considered a looming public health threat
They’ve been called “fat letters” and critics say they increase bullying and shame kids for their body weight.
But a paper published today by the American Academy of Pediatrics argues that weighing and measuring the height of schoolchildren and sending letters home with overweight kids is an important tool for combating the obesity epidemic.
This kind of screening has been going on in parts of the U.S. for over a decade, and despite the objections, has led to positive lifestyle changes for many of the children identified as obese, the paper argues.
But as Toronto Public Health gears up for its first body mass index (BMI) study, to be held in schools next year, it has announced that the study is being used for statistical purposes only and will not gather any personalized information.
It’s a more timid approach than the one being taken in the U.S. and it raises the question: are we being aggressive enough?
Toronto schools won’t send ‘fat letters’ home | Toronto Star
As Toronto schools begin BMI testing, they have shied away from controversial letters sent home with overweight kids in the U.S.
Childhood obesity is considered a looming public health threat
They’ve been called “fat letters” and critics say they increase bullying and shame kids for their body weight.
But a paper published today by the American Academy of Pediatrics argues that weighing and measuring the height of schoolchildren and sending letters home with overweight kids is an important tool for combating the obesity epidemic.
This kind of screening has been going on in parts of the U.S. for over a decade, and despite the objections, has led to positive lifestyle changes for many of the children identified as obese, the paper argues.
But as Toronto Public Health gears up for its first body mass index (BMI) study, to be held in schools next year, it has announced that the study is being used for statistical purposes only and will not gather any personalized information.
It’s a more timid approach than the one being taken in the U.S. and it raises the question: are we being aggressive enough?
Toronto schools won’t send ‘fat letters’ home | Toronto Star
