Question

An ever increasing problem for children and teens in the US is obesity. For this discussion, tell me your opinion on the following:

1. Schools annually assess the vision and hearing of its students in addition to assessing the physical growth of children by measuring the height and weight. Should schools also be calculating body mass index (BMI) and sending notices home if the child's BMI is high?

2. Some health agencies support this while others do not. Do you think this is a wise approach to addressing the obesity in children? Why or why not?

Answer 1

I do not think that they should send notes home because BMI is not accurate for many teens and children. The BMI is not accurate for people involved in sports or people who worked out. This would not be affective, there are more effective if they found out their ways to detect childhood obesity. For these reasons I do not think that agencies would support using BMI but maybe something else