"BMI" news and stories

That's right. If you live in the great state of Mississippi and you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, you may be denied service at restaurants soon.

There is a bill working its way through the Mississippi House of Representatives now that would require restaurants to refuse to serve patrons who are obese. The bill would require eateries to keep track of customers BMI's and have scales at the doors. The states Department of Health would be responsible for enforcing compliance, and would revoke business permits for those dining establishments that violated the legislation.

This bill was introduced by Representative W.T. Mayhall, JR. Though he doesn't think his legislation will actually pass, he is very serious about it. He is concerned about the "serious problem of obesity and what it is costing the Medicare system." You can read the full text of the bill at this link.

I'm all for the government trying to protect its citizens and curbing its spending but I'm not sure this is the way to go about it. I think that prevention programs would be much more useful. I also believe that it's not the role of government to lead in the persecution of some of its citizens. Sorry Mr. Mayhall, that's not a good way to get reelected.

[Via coldmud]

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Some school districts have started giving kids a new grade on their report cards: their BMIs. The Body Mass Index is a scale developed by the National Health Institute to provide a rough idea of your body condition, from unhealthily thin to uhealthily overweight, based on height and weight. The many criticisms of the BMI scale include the fact that it does not really take into account muscle, so a very muscular person will score worse than a chubby person of the same height. The standard scale is only designed to apply to adults, not to children, so although the New York Times does not note it in their recent article, we will assume that the children's BMI scale, which also factors age into account, is being used at these schools. The results are probably marginally more accurate, but children grow and develop at such different rates that it is doubtful as to how useful the readings are regardless of scale.

The schools' goal in instituting this system, which is being used in Delaware, South Carolina and Tennessee with legislation pending in several other states, is to motivate parents to watch their kids' weight and have their kids eat healthier and exercise more. Unfortunately, kids also see these report cards and seeing that one, flawed number can wreak havoc on a small child's self perception. Many have reported want to stop eating when the see their results and others simply tease the skinny kids (reports are used in grades k-8). This is not helped by the fact that many of these schools are not offering healthier food options or an increased number of physical activities.

Finger-pointing has rarely helped anything and, when six year olds decide that they are too fat and begin to refuse to eat, the issue needs to be reexamined and better solutions need to be offered. At the very least, the schools could offer some suggestions to parents as to what types of activities they might encourage their kids to engage in and send the results home separate from the report card with a letter explaining what they mean.

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