Mass. Parents Angry Over Kids Sent Home With 'Fat Reports'

Originally posted by Totalstranger
as soon as you mention "spirit" a red flag goes up for me. If I had a kid and a public school started filling it's head with talk of spirituality I'd be furious. But then again, maybe I could sue? hm...

I know - at the mention of "spirit" a red flag goes up for most people - which is just a sign of the abysmal schooling they have had.

My school would teach of spirit, love, sex, money, body and everything else of true consequence in life.

I think the letter is a great idea to shock the parents into action. Let's face it, they weren't doing a very good job of overseeing their children's health in the first place.

In the years to come, this type of thing will be looked upon as child abuse. I don't see any difference between overdosing them on trans fats or forcing them to smoke cigarettes. The outcome is identical in many respects. An early death. That's the reality of the situation. Political correctness isn't going to make the problem go away.

IRM

the Health and Human Services announced this week that under the stimulus law, health care providers must establish "meaningful use" of electronic health records to qualify for federal subsidies or risk seeing their Medicare and Medicaid payments slashed.

The electronic health records must include Americans’ body mass index, or BMI, height and weight.

www.foxnews.com...

demanding obesity ratings for all citizens by 2014.

[edit on 103131p://bSunday2010 by Stormdancer777]

I'm not suggesting that kids aren't too fat or even that their parents should be doing more to keep them from being fat, however I am suggesting that it is noone's business but the parent's. If parents want to raise their children fat, it should be up to them to do so, as long as their intentions are good. It should not be up to the state to dictate how parents should raise their children. Now I know that this school system is only sending a report home and not dictating anything as far as the report is concerned, but it shouldn't be any of the school's business.

--airspoon

Maybe I don't disagree with the idea overall but I do have a disagreement.

Maybe it's in how the weight is determined, I mentioned this on another thread but recently the school nurse informed us that our child was obese.

Not chunky, not fat, not overweight, but obese.

I posted his picture in that thread, and it is still in my photo album if anyone would like to look, but the kid is in my opinion not fat, or overweight much less obese.

So I have a problem with making kids think they have a problem when they don't.

EDIT: Here's the photo of my fat ass son

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7cbfa7306924.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 7/18/2010 by ThaLoccster]

The government has no right to dictate weight or health issues to the people.

I will tell you has the REAL WEIGHT PROBLEM! THE GOVT! Our Gov't is fatter than a 5000 ton hippo.

Hell I don't even want their suggestions!

I get my info from Scientists not Government Bureaucrats and Politicians!!

Why would anyone listen to the Government??

What has the Government ever done right? Kill a bunch of people? Yep that is one thing they CAN do pretty good. Oh and they are good at oppressing people too.

Everything else the governments of the world do, is a failure, a waste of resources, and an embarrassment to anyone paying attention.

They lie constantly to manipulate us.

I would rather die than listen to those punks ever again.

Watch, they may MAKE me eat those words one day. We will see!

The rest of the World makes jokes about Americans and their Obesity.

When people in Europe imitate Chinese, Indians or Arabs its the usual cliches being acted out. But you know what they do when they poke fun at Americans? They play an Obese person.

Look at the world-stats on Obesity. Obesity is unhealthy and makes people not only unhappy but also docile. Schools are correct to dare point it out.

The government's overriding interest is that the army's be kept full of fit YOUNG people. You can't be fat and in the Army.

They want kids to fight their never ending wars and occupations.

That's what this WHOLE "Oh we are so concerned this child is overweight' thing is about.

The way the US is going, a child's lifespan might be LONGER if they are fat, since they can't be sent to war.

BLEH

I don't want anyone who's main interest is war having control of my child.

IMO this isn't about the parents feelings or the schools rules, its about your child. Maybe if we word it differently to where someone who gets the letter might say, hmmm I disagree, but maybe we can see why they came to this conclusion.

Or, hmmm I see where they mightmake this statement, maybe because your my child and I love you so much, that I do not see what they see, so lets go to the school and find out.

If your child needs help, then your child needs help. If my kid was on fire, I wouldn't be concerned if it was a firefighter that put him out, or a cat. As long as my child is healthy and safe, that s all that should matter. Yes the end decision is yours, but maybe some of these parents should look into it.

BTW I scroll while I read the part of look at my big son, but all I saw was Bob the builder and I thought you were trying to be funny. Sorry I had to get that out.

Peace to you...

After reading the posts, I am going to play devils advocate here.
I believe this is a wrong action by the state and the school. I believe that ultimately the raising of a child is the responsiblity of the parents, not the state, and that this opens a dangerous door, that can be used as an excuse to do more than what many would be comfortable with. Weight and weight issues are something that most teachers and parents should be aware of, however, to turn around and actually do bmi reports, only gives the government more information than it needs. How does a childs bmi relate to education, to the ability for a child to read, write, do math, and think? I believe that this is going to go very badly, due to the goverment interference and that there will be a raise in the number of children, and especially girls, in developing unhealthly eating habits, leading to the government getting more and more involved in our private lives.
Consider, they do a bmi report on a child, who may be slightly overweight, and then moniter that child. Then the report states to the parents that it is suggested that the child loose weight, and when that does not happen, care to make a guess what the next step would be. Contact social services, on the grounds the parents are risking the childs health, as the childs bmi has not changed to the standards that they set. Is the government now to set the standard of what is and is not normal in the human race now? That sounds like the start of eugenics, and something the nazi's did before the start of world war II.
Children have alot on their plate and especially the girls. Most girls are selfconscious about the way they look, and especially when they get older and into their teenage years. When you combine that with what you see in the advertisments, in the movies, tv and the internet, the ideas of beauty starts to get warped. This is the time when the cycle of eating disorders starts. Even in the article, the girl who they interviewed, admitted that some of her school mates have self confidence issues.
So the question must be boiled down, are you wanting the government to open a door, which will lead to the interference in your privacy and your home life? At what point does it stop being oh we are here for your own good, and becomes a matter of persecution on the part of the government to where a person, family or company becomes the object of that action? This has happened over and over again in the country, each time with diseasterous consequences, starting with prohibition of alcohole. In my lifetime I have seen where people and organizations have been demonized and outright slandered by the media and those in the government, from the military, to gay people, to those people who own pit bulls, to smokers, to those who are religious. It never ends, and right now the current bad person are those who are over weight.
As much as a person who is overweight does risk their health, you can not mandate the freedom of choice, to take away that most basic and simple of all liberty is what dictators do. When the goverment starts to regulate what you can and can not eat, it is a matter of time before other choices are taken away from you. A persons medical needs are something that needs to remain private, that should be sanctamount and when it is violated, then it is only a matter of time when other aspects of privacy is lost.

reply to post by Skyfloating



Obesity 'epidemic' turns global
obesity
news.bbc.co.uk...
People are getting fatter in all parts of the world, with the possible exception of south and east Asia, a one-day global snapshot shows.

American Kids Aren't the Fattest After All: Go Spain and Italy!
www.cbsnews.com...

Many factors must be taken into consideration, body distribution of fat is a big indicator.

My husbands family are all skinny thin with history of diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, high blood pressure, I have a big ass and don't have any of the above.

Originally posted by Stormdancer777
American Kids Aren't the Fattest After All: Go Spain and Italy!

I dont know stormdancer - I do a lot of travelling, including recently to Italy. Im not seeing it the way I see it in the USA.

Originally posted by Skyfloating

Originally posted by airspoon
I would have to disagree, as far as the school teaching life lessons. It should be the parent's job to teach their kids about life. I should be the one to teach my children life's lessons or at least someone of my choosing, not a school, to which I have no choice in sending my children.

This view is common and is, imo, the exact reason why school is such a waste of time - you dont learn anything about life there.

It IS a waste of time if school was meant to educate on life lessons .. of course, this is NOT the reason for schooling. It's a system of indoctrination into the beast.

"I've never let my school interfere with my education." --Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)

Anyone who wants to learn life lessons needs nothing more than to live their life. That's why I choose to skip out on as much schooling as possible and live it up.






[edit on 18-7-2010 by unityemissions]

Who do you think should speak for these kids, or do you think their parents have it under control?

When I think of the in between that has to do with the BMI where muscle can sometimes be confused as fat, then yes, there's a mistake, but when kids obviously are not being healthy at home, and risk all types of disease and illness, then its a different story.

Do you think that anyone other than a school confronted these kids parents?

I don't think that the government should get involved, but who supposed to tell parents that think twinkies are vitamins, that its time to stop. I feel bad that we even live in a country that these types of requirements are necessary. If we can point out the possible agenda of the government, how come we cant point out why we gave them the tools to do so.

Peace to you...

so the parents want to know, by the SCHOOLS, if their children are:

• Caught Smoking
  
• Caught doing drugs
  
• Not showing up to School
  

But sending them home as being too fat and in desperate need of diet & exercise to improve thier way of life and longevity....that's going too far?

Parents these days are totally stupid. I used to think it was the youth that was wrong w/ this country...but idiot children are bred from idiot parents.

The child doesn't know their an idiot...the parent does, but just chooses to ignore it.

I think in many cases it is hereditary, sometimes it is medication,

MY oldest son is 6'6" and weighs 300 pounds, he fills a doorway, I call him stocky, but he isn't fat.

I grew up in a European neighborhood Austrians, Germans, Slovaks, my Gpaw and Gmaw were Austrian, My grandmother was a six foot blond, big woman, we are all six footers and over,

There weren't any skinny women in that neighborhood.

Native American on my moms side they tend to be stocky too, but if I eat all fresh fish and game I drop the weight.

There are just many factors to take into consideration.

reply to post by sdcigarpig


There's the danger of abuse in everything. But do we stop progress or ignore the uses and benefits of all tools just because of these potential dangers? Or do we stay vigilent about potential abuses while using the tools for the good they do provide? Fine line.

Pick your battles. In this particular case as with many others brought up in this way, the mob is angry and probably can't really even clarify why, and in all likelihood probably isn't even concerned about the things you mention. It's probably a small mob with 100 different reasons masquerading as a trend.

Any tool like this could grow into a monster like our beloved credit score system, which will in all likelihood one day be linked to our medical records, which will in turn play into corporate and government decisions about our worthiness or the risks we pose.

Also, to think that the government and corporations don't already have access to this information should they want it is probably naive.


[edit on 7/18/2010 by ~Lucidity]

reply to post by NoRegretsEver


I was never fat as a child or young adult, I was always muscular and athletic, I am sixty now and things have shifted, lol

reply to post by Stormdancer777


I myself have a long line of family that are pretty overweight, I have my ups and downs, but when I had children due to knowing that this might be genetic, I started my kids on healthy foods, no can stuff, boil an egg, blend an apple, till this day I have a small garden, and thats where we get our veggies. I'm not knocking the parents, and I don't agree with the governments involvement, but I don't think that the new law thats come into place has anything to do with your child. Because that was yet another thing that happened that a kid didn't have any say in or control over. WE are the adults, and as long as we bring children into this world, we only have 2 choices, raise them right, or wait and play it out, and guess what?...This is where the wait it out attitude got us. So just make sure that you control the outcome of your child before someone comes and tries to do it for you.

Peace to you...

Kids are not as active as I was and my kids were, but what about genetically modified food?

I recently decided to eat only lean meats and veggies and fruits, I refuse to eat processed food, but even our meat source is tainted, and our fruits and vegetables, unless you grow your own.