For those that weren't aware, Arkansas became one of the first states to have a childhood obesity report card program, where school children were weighed once a year, their BMI calculated, and this information, along with any obesity related concerns, were sent to the kids' parents.
Unfortunately, Arkansas just took a BIG step backwards in the fight against childhood obesity. While they did not ditch the obesity report card program, what was once yearly mandatory weigh ins for students is now an OPTIONAL every other year program. So the kids get weighed half as often, and parents who claim that these report cards "are bad for their child's self esteem" can pull them out of the program all together.
Kids that get pulled from the program won't be factored into the state's childhood obesity rates, making those statistics worthless.
But I guess in the end, legislators and parents feel that removing a once a year ding to a child's self esteem is more important than their long-term health.
To me this type of behavior is what's contributing to the out of control spiral of what is known as childhood obesity.
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