A weight off my mind.

OK, one more time. Here's an article about a program being tested down south. Schools have changed food menus, soft drink producers are voluntarily removing heavily sweetened beverages from schools, and kids are getting weighed at school. They're sending home letters with the reports cards if the kid's body/mass index indicates obesity.

I'm of two minds on this one.

The first is, good that they're taking childhood obesity into consideration and changing both diet and behavior at school to help, not to mention educating both family and students about healthier living, eating, etc. Innumerable studies have shown that teaching kids healthy eating habits sticks with them for life. Why's it matter to someone like me? Insurance premiums. Healthier adults means my health insurance is cheaper.

My beef with it is that I'm worried about the body/mass index. I remember it being a bit questionable because the height to weight ratio was skewed toward extremely skinny. Not good. It sounds like the whole system is set up to not give kids a complex about their weight, but it's still a touchy subject.

Regardless, it might be a step in the right direction. It's working well enough that other states are trying it. Now they just have to figure out a way to teach parents the results of another study that shows that strict disciplinarians have a higher percentage of obese childrens (eating becomes a stress reliever), with parents that don't care and parents that let their kids do anything being tied for second. The best parents are those that set rules, have reasonable standards and are emotionally connected to their kids. Go figure.