[Jog] Report cards include student weight to fight obesity andTeasing Kids about Weight

[Jennifer L YOUNG]

FYI - From the Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast


SCHOOL REPORT CARDS TO INCLUDE STUDENT WEIGHT IN EFFORT TO FIGHT OBESITY
A school program that sends home health report cards with student weight
and fitness information has helped get parents of overweight children
involved in trying to address the problem, a study found. While the
program studied at Boston-area schools did not change some unhealthful
behaviors, the researchers say their results show health report cards
might be a promising tool in the battle against the nation's childhood
obesity epidemic, reports Lindsey Tanner. "Parents who received health and
fitness report cards were almost twice as likely to know or acknowledge
that their child was actually overweight than those parents who did not
get a report card," said Robert McGowan, physical education program leader
at Cambridge Public Schools. They also "were over twice as likely to plan
weight-control activities for their overweight child," said McGowan, a
study co-author.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/4037659.html 

TEASING ABOUT WEIGHT TAKES ITS TOLL ON KIDS
Sticks and stones may break kids' bones, but teasing words about their
bodies will break their hearts, according a new study. University of
Minnesota researchers found that kids who were teased about their body
types -- regardless of size -- were two to three times more likely to
think about or attempt suicide than kids who weren't teased. The emotional
effect was much worse for girls, and much worse for boys and girls if they
were teased by both their peers and family members, researchers said. "It
can have some profound effects on young people," said Marla Eisenberg, a
research associate at the university's School of Public Health and the
lead author on the. "It's not harmless. For many it digs in very deep and
can be very harmful."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1556/4036938.html