The Student Body Page #3

I could never think about

anything else at that time.

I could always think

about how I'm a disappointment

to everyone.

The children

that received that letter,

they'll remember that

the rest of their lives.

They will remember, um,

how nice or sweet the school

tried to make it sound.

They'll remember

that the school said,

"you don't fit in.

"You are different.

"You are not acceptable

at what you're doing now

and that something

needs to change."

So essentially,

if they received it

for being underweight,

they're too skinny.

If they received it

for being overweight,

the school is essentially

saying, "you're too fat."

Um, those are words

and that's a moment and time

that these children

will never forget,

um, and that is a shame.

Sorry.

So, in life, you hold on

to those things.

And so, it's hard

when it's your kid.

At the time,

I was really mad at the nurse

because her name was signed.

But then, the nurse

met with my mom

and she told, um, her

that she had to send it

and she didn't have a choice to,

so I just felt

really sorry for her

and I wished that that never

happened to her either

because I mean, how much pain

that put her through,

and it's something

she deserved for that.

Nobody seemed to know

where the letter started,

why it went out in the mail.

I mean, how does

a letter like this go out

and no one know about it?

It just isn't possible.

Well, someone has to know

where these letters came from,

so I setup an appointment

with one of our school

board members

who also happens to be

a nutritionist,

college professor,

and doctor.

I'm a dietitian

whose private practice

is centered around

weight management

and eating disorders.

So, I was absolutely alarmed

that that went out

because you can't talk

to kids that way.

That's the whole wrong approach.

I was glad to hear

that someone else

thought that these letters

were a bad idea,

but I wanted to know

who was responsible,

so I went to the president

of the school board.

I don't think anybody

may have known

about it until that night

that she came and spoke.

The way those letters

are generated

is a state of Ohio

mandates that every school

conducting every child a BMI

or a, uh, body mass index

to, uh, to see where they fall.

This is sounding more sinister

than I thought.

State lawmakers

are forcing our schools

to do BMI testing on us

to determine our health?

Is that BMI

is an indicator of something,

but is it the most important

piece of information

about that student's health?

It's not even in the top five.

So I'd say

it's really not a value.

Well, that's good to hear

because lots of students

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