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No rise in taunting because of BMI tests, study finds Wednesday, Oct 8, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Overweight children in Arkansas have not received more teasing since schools began measuring the body mass index of students in 2003, according to a study released Tuesday. The study by researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences also found the percentage of parents who recognize their children are overweight has risen, parents are promoting healthier lifestyles and students are reporting fewer vending machine purchases. "I'm very pleased by this report," said Dr. Joe Thompson, the state's surgeon general, adding the study counters many of the fears some people raised in 2002 when the Legislature was considering the legislation that created the BMI requirement. "We took some pretty major steps to safeguard the children and I'm pleased with the findings because it shows our safeguards work," Thompson said. The Legislature in 2003 passed and then-Gov. Mike Huckabee signed into law Act 1220 which established the first-in-the-nation program requiring public schools to measure the body mass index of all students and report the results to parents annually. Parents soon began receiving a report noting whether the measurement, reached by using a person's height and weight, found their child was underweight, healthy, at risk of becoming overweight or overweight. During the 2007 session, the Legislature passed a bill that limits testing to every other year and exempts juniors and seniors from the program. That law went into effect at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year. The UAMS research team designed a study to look at any link between BMI testing and teasing after some parents raised concerns. Nearly 6,500 parents were interviewed for the study, as well as 1,042 students ages 14 and older who attend public school in the state "When all of the measures required by Act 1220 are taking place in schools, we found no downside to student BMI assessments," said Delia Smith West, a researcher and psychologist at the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health at UAMS. Thompson said the percentage of Arkansas students classified as overweight or at risk has remained stable for the past three years and that the study shows people are at least learning about the obesity problem and how to recognize it. He said the percentage of parents who now recognize their child has a weight problem has increased from 30 percent to 70 percent, according to the study. Also, children are buying less junk food from vending machines, and parents are encouraging healthier lifestyles, he said. "This is a huge aircraft carrier and this is one more piece of the evidence that we're starting to turn it around," Thompson said. The study was published in the October issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. |
