Minnesota's Public Health Finance Division has voted against a measure that would require "obesity checks" for the state's schoolchildren. The plan would have monitored childhood obesity by collecting body-mass index information during the school year.
"The biggest worry from those who objected: The numbers could shame overweight children and teenagers. 'They know in the third grade that they're fat. They know that,' said Rep. Neil Peterson, R-Bloomington, who said he has female relatives with eating disorders. 'Now you're going to line 'em up in class and do monitoring so you reinforce that.'"
The bill's sponsor argues that the information would not be made public, but would instead be used to determine how and where efforts against childhood obesity are focused. Read more at WCCO.com.
Labels: legislation, schools, shame