Schools Test Children's Body Fat

Aug. 16, 2001 -- Is burgeoning baby fat a subject best kept home from school?

American children are getting fatter and fatter, and research shows that overweight children are susceptible to a host of health problems down the line. So with calipers in hand, schools across the country take it upon themselves to test students body fat, a process that's been going on for years now.

But should the evaluation of a student's body mass best be done by a doctor instead of a gym teacher? That debate was sparked recently when the Livonia Public School System in Michigan decision to outlaw body fat testing in schools.

Body Fat Testing Not a Bad Idea

Some experts say that assessing body fat in children isn't necessarily a bad idea, but they agreed that the testing should be performed by health professionals, and not in schools.

"Kids have yearly physicals and pediatricians can do all these measurements in the privacy of the office with the parent in the waiting room," says Dr. David Herzog, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Mass. "If body mass index or cholesterol is a problem, a consultation can happen immediately with the family."

Herzog believes school testing contributes to teasing, and gives kids who are overweight one more reason to feel they are different from the norm. "Doing this in schools seems like a disaster," he adds, "Kids knowing these numbers, teasing others who show up with a high BMI [body mass index] or blood pressure, putting the issue of overweight in public view of others when overweight kids have a terrible time in school with teasing."

A spot check of 15 communities found nine that perform the test in schools, with proponents saying it is part of a valuable fitness evaluation. "There are so many youth these days that are severely overweight, their body fat is way out of whack," says Russ Newcomb, a physical education teacher at Burlington High School in Burlington, Mass. "So we try to address that by making them realize they have to start paying attention to what they eat and the importance of exercise."

Newcomb says 90 percent of his students want to know their body fat percentage. "Sure, some are embarrassed by their number, but on the flip side it's good for them to know."

One high school student says she "felt a little weird about the testing at first, but wanted to know if I was slightly overweight or not." But a 12-year-old girl revealed she had a high number, which led her to believe she was fat. She said kids compared their numbers, while she stood, humiliated, in the corner of the gym. Another student admitted she tried to stay home from school the day of the testing.

Schools Should Stick to Education

Carol Nemeroff, a psychology professor from Arizona State University in Tempe, agrees that testing in schools may be harmful to children, not only socially, but physically as well.

"I think measuring body fat in middle and high schools is a disastrous idea," says Nemeroff. "Young girls in particular already have a traumatic time simply being weighed in a public setting. This plan would add even more emphasis to the idea of body fat as evil, exactly at a time when they are supposed to be gaining body fat as their bodies mature into an appropriately womanly form."

Instead of focusing on numbers, experts say schools should stick to education — and emphasize healthy habits. "Schools need to be teaching children what are the components of a healthy lifestyle," says Connie Diekman, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association in Chicago. "Measuring body fat can result in preoccupation with numbers, and not how those numbers are achieved."

Adds Diekman: "Schools and parents need to work to develop programs that help students learn why healthy eating, regular exercise, and avoiding smoking, drugs, and alcohol can make kids strong, help them perform better, and in the long run, healthier."

Wahida Karmally of Columbia University in New York agrees, adding, "How about providing gyms times everyday, improving school lunch, removing soda machines from schools, and getting parents committed to developing healthy lifestyles."