[ back ]
Jefferson Local waives BMI screening for one year
(by Linda Dillman - August 10, 2010)
The latest unfunded Ohio mandate, legislation establishing a new body mass index (BMI) screening program and upping physical education standards, is forcing school districts back to the books to balance the new requirements with a shrinking bottom line.
For Jefferson Local Schools, the process involves seeking a one-year waiver from the state—which board members approved on Aug, 9—regarding participation in mandatory body mass screenings.
“This is a costly screening of our students and a disruption in the classroom,” said board President David Harper. “The more we conduct this kind of testing, the more we’re taking students out of the classroom. We’re here to educate, not to screen for body mass. Ideas like this are pushed from the federal level to the state and then they trickle down to us.
“Our school district has an excellent food service program. We have an excellent physical education and athletic program. This (BMI screening) is not a school issue. It is a family issue between the parents, child and physician, and we want to meet with our legislators and tell them this (screening) is just wrong.”
House Bill 373 was introduced last year and compels districts across the state to require body mass and weight status screenings of all students in kindergarten and grades third, fifth and ninth. The BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.
According to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, the screening may be provided by the school or through a contract with an outside entity. The district would also have the option to request that a student’s parent or guardian obtain the information and submit it to the district. However, parents and guardians may submit a written statement indicating they do not want their student to go through the screening.
Districts are prohibited from requiring the screening if a parent opts out of the program, but if a student is screened by the school system, the district is required to notify parents and guardians of the health risks associated with the results and forward aggregate data to the Ohio Department of Health.
“So much of the BMI is related to diet and for a school district, there’s not a whole lot you can do, other than provide health instruction and physical education,” said Superintendent William Mullett. “It (screening) puts us in a tenuous situation with parents, and there really aren’t formal guidelines to inform them.
“If parents are at all observant, they know about this, and if they choose in their own family to ignore the situation, then I don’t know what the school’s purpose is in doing this (screening). I am a huge advocate of a healthy lifestyle, but a BMI screening in school seems a little peculiar. It’s a complex issue when you are talking about fitness and health.”
While local funding for the screening program was projected by the commission to have a negligible impact on districts in 2010, potential increases in administrative and reporting costs could influence school budgets in 2011 and beyond.
According to “BMI Measurement in Schools,” in a 2009 publication by the American Academy of Pediatrics, a number of concerns were expressed about school-based BMI-screening programs, including they might intensify the stigmatization already experienced by obese youth, increase dissatisfaction with body image, and intensify pressures to engage in harmful weight-loss practices leading to eating disorders.
“Another concern is that parents might respond inappropriately to BMI reports by, for example, placing their child on a restrictive and potentially harmful diet without seeking medical advice. Other concerns are that these programs might be ineffective, waste scarce health-promotion resources, and distract attention from other school-based obesity-prevention activities such as improvements to the school physical activity and nutrition environment,” stated the Pediatric journal publication.
“Thirteen states are implementing school-based BMI measurement programs as required by legislation. Few studies exist that assess the utility of these programs in preventing increases in obesity or the effects these programs may have on weight-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of youth and their families. Typically, expert organizations support school-based BMI surveillance (data from a representative sample); however, controversy exists over screening. BMI screening does not currently meet all of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ criteria for determining whether screening for specific health conditions should be implemented in schools.”
[ back ]
