"Fat letters" in public schools: public health versus pride.

Recently, BMI screening in public schools has stirred sharp controversy with the emergence of letters sent home to parents indicating their child’s BMI percentile and weight category. In Massachusetts, these letters have been deemed, “fat letters,” and have appeared on late night comedy shows, newspapers, and televised news reports. Not only has screening come under harsh criticism, but the increasing prevalence of obesity in our nation’s children has been challenged based on misinformed assumptions that BMI is an inaccurate measure of a child’s body fat. Massachusetts representatives have submitted House Bill H.2024, which would ban that state’s department of public health from collecting any data on height, weight, or calculating BMI in public school children.