Elementary school students in Massachusetts were sent home with report cards that evaluated… Elementary school students in Massachusetts were sent home with report cards that evaluated things other than academic performance. The letters, which were sent home with around 140 Hyannis school students, informed parents that their children might be at risk of becoming under or overweight, according to an Associated Press article.

The letters were sent home after routine height, weight, hearing and vision tests were performed at the school. These screenings are the result of a federal law aimed at promoting wellness programs in schools. A state law requires schools to notify parents regarding the health of their children.

Not surprisingly, some parents were upset that the school sent the letters home with students, rather than mailing the information to parents. The school district’s superintendent claimed that mailing the letters home would have been too costly for the district.

Other parents were angry that the school was “singling children out” and interfering with or undermining their parenting. Some parents, like Vicki Elliott, think it’s simply not the school’s business.

“She probably can eat healthier, but that’s for the doctor and me to decide, not the school nurse,” Elliot said in the article.

It’s all about education, according to the school nurse, who said that the letters were meant to be informative tools. She also said that the body mass index calculated in the school’s screenings do not always produce accurate results, as athletes can score high numbers – numbers that might falsely indicate obesity in otherwise healthy people.

While we think it’s important that schools keep parents and students educated about maintaining healthy weight and encourage healthy habits, we disagree with the method used to disseminate this information to parents. Weight and body image is a sensitive issue for children, and sending these letters home with the children could potentially do more harm than good. Even if it weren’t financially feasible for the district to send the letters home, surely they could have been combined with another mailing, like report cards.

It’s also important that the schools themselves avoid hypocrisy by providing a healthy environment and fostering good decision making in their students. Cafeterias should be devoid of junk food and sodas, and students should be encouraged to be active at recess.

It’s important for schools to consider the damaging effects of bad body image in students. We’re glad to see that schools are not only targeting potentially overweight students, but underweight students as well; the early phases of eating disorders might be difficult to detect, and this program could help to alleviate the problem in young students.

We understand that parents feel insulted when they believe their efforts are being undermined. However, if everyone is acting in the best interest of students and promoting healthy behavior in responsible and thoughtful ways, the results will be positive.