* Please note: I know this post is long, but please continue to read! It is such an important topic!
How would you like to be weighed, BMI and fat percentage calculated, then have to write down these numbers on a white board in a high school class? Continue reading for more on this story!
Writing the title alone of this post was cringe worthy. There has been a lot of news in the last year about BMI testings in schools, sending letters home to parents, and weighing children and teens in front of one another. When news first hit the press about BMI report cards I immediately protested. Not only because the BMI alone is not an indicator health; weighing children in public, and merely sending a letter to parents with no other information is to me dangerous. I worried about how the children/teens felt being weighed in front of one another, comparing and worrying about how they would measure up to each-other.
In March this year, news went national about a school in Elmhurst, Ill. Where 25 parents of children protested the use of BMI in PE grades. As this article says:
One mother could barely hold back tears as she recounted the day her fourth-grade daughter at Hawthorne Elementary School called her at work crying hysterically. The gym teacher had given her an R (equivalent to “does not meet district objectives”) on her report card because she was “fat,” her daughter had said. Her mother goes on to say her daughter cried for four days, was a good student and had never received a low grade before. “She I still work with her every day to tell her she’s not fat,” her mother said.
I don’t have a really good way to describe my feelings after I read about this. It was mixed with pride and fist pumps for the parents who fought this in the school district, along with terrible sadness and concern for children and teens across the country where this type of situation is occurring and we may not be hearing about it yet. Other school districts in Wyoming, Massachusetts and Arkansas have also adopted this BMI testing to mixed reviews.
I have no mixed reviews – I protest the use of the BMI testing period, especially in a school situation where it is shared with students (who may very well be in elementary school!). I honestly cannot say I have read a single review/study/survey where BMI testing at ALL has led to positive results. If you know of one – please let me know.
There was another story brought to my attention by Family Feeding Dynamics in a post called “What have your kids learned from school nutrition programs.” This quote was given on their Facebook page:
“The kindergarteners at our school had a nutrition unit earlier this year. Z. came home spouting maxims such as “vegetables are healthy! Cookies are bad!” and then, contemplatively, “I hate vegetables.” This from a boy who loves broccoli, green beans, celery, carrots, edamame. . . thankfully, the unit was brief so the damage was minimal.”
I simply have no words.
I was recently made aware of another situation similar to the one in Elmhurst at West Ranch High School in Valencia, CA by Andrea Owen. An Honors Anatomy and Physiology high school teacher Mr. Matthew Pearce, was offering extra credit on the final in the class if the whole class could lose 10% off their BMI and fat percentage. To add to this – the students had to go up to the white board and write their last name, BMI and fat percentage. Even hearing just this much had me fuming. So fat & being over weight is bad, and losing weight is good. Ugh. There was a lot of fury over this on my Facebook page where I asked the following (courtesy of Pigtail Pals posting this dialogue first).
“Discuss: If you had a high school aged child who came home and told you this, your reaction would be ___________________: AP Anatomy teacher had students measure BMI & Body Fat and write it on the board with their name. They get 5% extra credit on their final if they can all lose 10% of their body fat in the next two weeks.”
Here were some of the responses to my posting this:
- “My mouth literally dropped open just now. I thought getting weighed in HS PE class and having our weight announced was bad enough. This is atrocious! I would be outraged if I was a parent.”
- “First off remind them that their health is made up more than a number – what they do, how they think and feel, and not just a size or shape. Next, talk to the teacher and and inquire as to why in the world they felt encouraging short-term, disproportionate weight loss for adolescents would ever be a good idea. Then hopefully help scratch that idea out of existence and help come up with a healthier, more constructive solution(s)!”
- “My mouth literally fell open when I saw this. Surely that could be counted as an invasion of privacy to have them write those on the board? Absolutely ridiculous. I’d be making a poster to stick on the school gates rallying together the other parents in a petition against this teacher.. and losing the weight… bad enough for the ones who are overweight because it’s embarrassing, stupid for the ones who don’t need to lose any because it’s implying that they do, even worse for the ones who are underweight and especially those who have eating disorders that have caused weight loss already. “
- “I would be PISSED! As if teenagers don’t already have enough pressure to be thin, having it thrown in your face as an extra credit assignment is just…no not cool! Plus, it is not up to that teacher to decide if the students need to lose t…he weight. Some could be at healthy weights or even under weight already. This is dangerous. This is promoting being thin and has nothing to do with being healthy. People need to freaking stop with the obsession with losing weight and stop trying to push it on kids who are so impressionable. (sorry. I get mad about things like this)”
So I decided to email a senior high school female student at this high school, who wishes to remain anonymous. I wanted to hear her voice, and her feelings and responses. I want to thank her kindly for doing this interview because hearing it first hand is so important, that way it is not just my interpretation of a situation!
Can you briefly explain what happened re the BMI and rewarding of grades to those who lost weight?
In my Honors Anatomy and Physiology class we did a lab that measured our percentage of body fat and our BMI. In order to calculate the averages he had each student go up to the white board and write their last name with their BMI and fat percentage. At the end of the lab he offered the class 5% extra credit on the final if the class as a whole could lose 10% off their BMI and fat percentage.
What were your initial thoughts & feelings?
My initial thoughts were do I really have to put my BMI and fat percentage on the board?! Do you know how many boys are in this room?! Not to mention all the girls that are skinner then me?! So I asked if we could write male and female instead of our names. He said that we had to put our names.
How did other people respond to this? Did you have friends who felt pressure to lose weight? Feel embarrassed?
In the class you felt one of two ways, you were either appalled by his actions or you did not find it as that big of a deal. One of my friends was really disturbed by this; she walked out of the class room crying. I can only imagine how some of the girls felt when they got home.
What did you do once you got home from hearing this at school?
Once I got home from school I had work. I started talking about it with my boss and she was outraged. We had a discussion about how what he did was not right, and it was very damaging to most of the girls in class. Then I came home and told my mom about it, she was not happy with his actions either.
What, if anything has happened to the teacher?
This issue was brought up to the principal and he was asked to revoke the extra credit, which he did. He explained to the class that the extra credit was canceled.
This trend of giving grades to those who lose weight isn’t new and is popping up all over the country. What do you think of these messages being given to teens and children?
I think the message is that we all need to lose weight, we all need to be skinner. I don’t think this is just in anyway. You should not be hearing this from a high school teacher it’s not their job to be concerned about our weight. As if we don’t have enough pressure in high school to deal with anyways!
Do you think body image struggles and eating disorders are prevalent in the high school aged community?
I definitely feel that high school girls struggle with this on a daily basis all over the nation.
What else would you like to say, address, or add to share with others?
I would like to add that I do not think my teacher maliciously intended to hurt any of my peers. I think his actions were wrong, but he was oblivious to harm he caused to the people in his class. I do not feel that my teacher is a bad man in any way, but the damage was done and I am speaking out so we can prevent this from happening in the future.
I want to thank this brave student for coming forward and sharing her voice!!!
So ViR readers – what do you think about this story and stories like this happening all over the country?
Do you feel the BMI and weight loss should be an educational tool to give extra credit? Are schools even the place to give medical advice about weight loss??? My answer to all of these is a resounding NO. If you want to read about the BMI and why it is bogus, check out this article from NPR.
I know how I feel – outraged and ready to bring this awareness to a national level. It is important that things like this hit the media. Often times children and teens feel scared to go against a teacher, who is a person of authority in their lives often. I think teachers need to be more aware of the harm they are doing. Maybe they do not know the harm, and that could be because the media, BMI, and messages of weight and health are so often confused in the news. Everywhere we read about obesity, weight loss, and this hype is affecting our children and teens. I worry about high achieving students, who aim to please, are perfectionists; what would their response be? Not everyone would feel comfortable going to their parents or teacher. I can only imagine many students response would be to diet, take any means necessary to get the extra credit.
What are your thoughts? Are you as outraged as I am to this?
What can we do??
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I read this with horror as the potential to destroy a child’s life through bullying is huge, but for the source of the bullying to come from people they generally trust implicity is even more sickening. And yes to me it is a form of bullying. I will be doing what I can to ensure this never is even considered where I live
Now that I’ve taken a few deep breaths before commenting, hopefully I can be nice. This whole situation frustrates me so much, but even more then that, saddens me. This type of situation is happening across the country way too often because people still are not educated enough as to the detrimental affects of the BMI and talk about weight. We live in a society where diet talk is a norm (as you talked about in your post yesterday) and that’s so sad. Talk about maintaining our weight or simply being happy in our bodies just isn’t there. Even those of us that are conscious of this have to often dig for these thoughts because we are so conditioned to think otherwise.
I recall being weighed in elementary school. I can remember my weight in 5th grade and I remember discussing it with those around me at lunch that day. I remember my feelings around that number and the reaction my peers had about theirs. I remember figuring my BMI in middle school and being upset with that number because it wasn’t at the lower end. I was told that I had a lot of muscle mass, which was true since I was an athlete, but I still was upset by this.
I don’t know what its going to take for our society to change but I hope something changes.
Jenn Sternecker recently posted..Is This Really Happening!
An important point how these practices have been around a while, and how the impact can affect us for a long time.
Thanks for spreading the word on this! This teacher may not have been aware of the potential damage he might do, but that’s no excuse. Hopefully, word will get out so that no other kids have to go through this type of experience. I’m so proud of the kids who stood up for themselves on this!
Katie @ Be Extraordinary Today recently posted..Stop Panicking- Start Living
I think what needs to come from this isn’t condemnation of people but education of what is going on, potential harm. I wish we would see more positive pro health programs, and unfortunately we have to bring topics like this to the media in hopes that people become more aware and educated.
Thanks for your comment!
Thank you so much for writing this great article, Kendra, and for your sensitivity in dealing with this topic and the kids involved. People like you make it easy for people to stand up for what’s right and step forward to make a difference.
Carrie thank you so much for you comment and for helping in this situation. I really appreciate it!!
This issue is one that never fails to get me fuming. The whole situation is apalling. I find it concerning that teachers themselves don’t seem to be educated about the implications of these ‘classes’. When I was in grade 7 (also again in grade 9) I was made to get weighed and measure my BMI and fat percentage in front of my PE class. I was never a ‘thin’ child. I was bullied and singled out because of my weight as it was. To have my weight, BMI and fat percentage announced to my class was like feeding me to the sharks. When I protested and tried to refuse to be weighed I was threatened with a fail grade and a trip to the principle for not participating in class. After the excercise was over, we had a lesson on how important a healthy lifestyle and weight management is, as well as the ‘serious health issues connected to being overweight’.
I’ve struggled with disordered eating, body image problems and depression through high school. I was always crying to mum that I was ‘too fat’ and doing this excercise in class was like a way of confirming it to me and provided that fuel for my body image issues.
I can still remember the pure terror that I felt when my 12 year old niece came to stay after school one afternoon and said she was fat. I instantly asked her what she did in PE that day. “We were weighed and they did our BMI and measured our fat.” I asked her what they said and she replied with “I’m overweight.”
She was most certainly NOT an overweight child. She was thin, very, very tall and if anything, a little underweight for her height. Now, you can’t tell me that telling a 12 year old, slim, athletic pre-teen that they are overweight can have ANY positive results.
It was traumatising for me, and I can only assume that it sparked a lot of pressure for her to ‘measure up’ to her peers. I find it upsetting that children and teens are being put through this. The schools should be focusing on promoting health, without focusing on weight. There is so much media and social attention on weight as it is, kids don’t need their teachers (who, might I add, are supposed to be aiding in providing a secure and comfortable environment for students) telling them that they need to lose weight!
Kids have enough pressure put on them about their looks, we need our teachers to be there for them, not providing ammunition for these issues.
[...] school – and was pretty upsetting (but not surprising) to read – from Voice In Recovery “BMI, Education & Extra Credit for Weight Loss”. The phrase “bad idea” cannot be [...]
[...] leads to shit like the absolute violation of privacy and trust that is public weigh-ins and fat shaming in educational settings. It increases the stigmatisation and bullying of fat kids but apparently not even prominent [...]
South Park had an episode called T.M.I., where Cartman mistook the height chart placed in the hallway for kids, to have been measuring their penis size. The episode was showing how absurd the BMI is, and that it’s essentialy just convoluted math removed from actual health issues, by parodying it as the T.M.I scale to measure penis size.
I didn’t believe they’d actually post the weight of students in school, but apparently once again the insensitivity of people has not ceased to amaze me. The fact is with the scrutiny about weight today, it is just as personal as posting penis size like they did on South Park. It’s also just as damaging. I thought school was supposed to be about education. The more I read about this stuff, I think our schools have become daycares where teachers abuse their power to lord over students. Not all teachers, or even most teachers, but really a gym teacher grading kids on their weight?
There are children younger and younger worrying about their weight. I heard 5 year olds are worried about their weight. You know what worried me at age 5, whether or not I’d be able to beat a level in Super Mario Bros. Why are so many people seeming to engage against allowing children to have a childhood?
I watch cartoons, as well, and rarely are there any cartoon characters shown on TV that are chubby or even fat. There is a fat child in Phineas & Ferb, but he’s portrayed as a negative stereotype, a fat bully. Hmm, because you know it never occured to anyone I suppose maybe fat kids become bullies, to retaliate against all the bullying they’ve been made to suffer? I’m not saying that justifies it, but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to get it. Many fans of 80′s cartoons, have noticed how their favorite characters like Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears have lost weight. You can’t even take your child to a movie, without some sort of insidious joke or sly reference against being fat. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was turned into a hour long proselytization about don’t be fat and eat good foods, with a extremely fat man riding a ECV. Because you know, when a fat person is riding an ECV it’s always because they’re lazy, not because they might actually have a medical issue or something.*sarcasm*
This is how terrible things have become. 5 year old children, with Anorexia. Now they’re saying, let’s terrify children with being ripped from their homes for being fat. You know telling a child, you were too fat to deserve a loving family, realy motivates weight loss.*more sarcasm* I am absolutely disgusted and outraged and how this generation is being raised with all of this. I do not know how people expect fat kids to survive. With this environment, it is more likely they’ll die from a self-aimed gun shot, then they will from obesity. You know of course, the autopsy will not read suicide, it wil read they died from fat. What it should read, is that they died from fat hatred.
[...] BMI, Education & Extra Credit for Weight Loss [...]