That is the question. I’d love it if you all would “weigh” in on this one. (Ha! I’m so punny.)
I have an unhealthy relationship with the bathroom scale. Yes, I said “relationship”. That’s how odd/unhealthy it is. Last week, I read a post on the blog Stop Chasing Skinny called “Screw The Scale” (the post title is actually longer, but that’s the upshot of the title.) The post was written by Christine Molloy, but it could have been me. What I mean by that is Christine’s words capture my distorted view of the scale perfectly.
I’m not going to repeat Christine’s words, or even talk about my own deal with obsessively weighing myself (and letting the number dictate how I feel each day.) Instead, I want to tell you a story and an observation about girls, boys, weight, and self-perception.
When my own kids were in elementary school I would occasionally volunteer at the school. One job I did for several years was to assist the school nurse with vision and hearing checks for all the kids in the school. Along with the vision/hearing checks, the kids were weighed and measured (height). We would set up a couple of scales in the hallway of each grade level and bring each classroom out into the hall to weigh and measure each kid, one by one (and record the info.)
This was never a problem for the early grades, K through about 3rd grade. When we got to the 4th and 5th graders, however, I could see this “public weighing” was causing much concern with the kids, especially the girls. I asked the school nurse if we really had to do this. She said it was “state mandated” and to just use a storage closet or empty classroom for weighing and measuring, and bring the kids in one at a time. The nurse didn’t seem to notice that this “private” weighing didn’t really solve the problem. But I did. I guess it “takes one to know one.”
As soon as the kids knew they were about to be weighed, many of the girls would get agitated. They would ask me if they “really had to do this”, or they would tell me they “already knew their weight” and “could they just write it down for me”. Some of them remained quiet but their faces told a very unsettled story.
There was enormous pressure among the girls to tell their weight to all the others once they stepped off the scale. Some of the girls even tried to peek as others were weighed. I don’t think most of the girls were trying to be mean, I just think that girls are pretty social and it was something different in their day — they just wanted to talk about it. (Yes, some girls are mean at this age. But mostly it seemed to be simple curiosity.)
I could see that some of the girls were mortified to step on the scale. Handling the peer pressure once they were done with the scale just made matters worse. You could tell this one moment had just ruined their day. (While I did my best to keep the all the girls quiet in hopes of reducing the demands to “tell your weight”, I’m sure my efforts were insignificant.)
I wasn’t surprised by the girls reactions, and I felt bad for them. What was surprising to me was that some of the boys were also stressed out about the number on the scale. In fact, some of the boys argued with me about their number on the scale. For many of these boys, it turned out that they were on club sports teams and needed to be above or below a certain weight. A few of them, however, were clearly feeling as uncertain about themselves as those girls were. The whole experience was rather sad for me.
My DIL, an elementary school teacher, tells me that these days, the kids in our state go through a “fitness test” each year. Those who “fail” the test get a letter sent home to their parents. I wonder how they feel when they are handed a letter to give to their parents. Or even how many feel when they have to perform the fitness test in front of the other kids. It makes me sad to think about that too.
On the other hand, we have a serious obesity problem in this country. According to the Center for Disease Control, 17% of the children (ages 2 – 19) in this country are obese — 12.5 million kids. This number has tripled since 1980. (This is not just a problem for those overweight individuals. It’s a problem for the nation’s health care costs.) I think public schools are a great place to start teaching children how to know: if they are healthy, why they should care, and what to do about it.
Weight is one measure of health, right? Is it helpful or hurtful to weigh kids in school? Are these fitness tests and “weigh ins” helpful or hurtful if public school are being forced to cut back on PE and nutrition programs due to budget cuts?
Just wondering.
Welcome! I'm Elizabeth (aka Liz) and this is my dog, Sneakers (aka Best Running Buddy - ever!). We both love running and eating. One of us loves to cook healthy vegan meals and snacks. One of us eats pretty much anything and loves to chase squirrels. Hope you enjoy reading our blog as we run, eat and cook through life.
12 comments
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Andrea says:
July 25, 2011 at 8:54 am (UTC -5 )
The most mortifying time to talk about weight is the blood bank. In the middle of a rapid-fire question sequence, they just blurt out, “How much do you weigh?” I know they only want an approximation, but I have a tiny feat that I will get the question wrong.
All the children take the fitness test, and each child gets a letter how to his/her parents giving height, weight, BMI, whether they are classified as underweight/healthy weight/overweight/obese, number of crunches done, how long they held a chin up, how fast they ran a quarter mile, and a couple other things. Then there is a form letter for the last 3/4 of the page telling parents the benefits of healthy living and ways that they can help improve/maintain their child’s health.
I don’t know how much the letters do to change parents behavior, but I wonder if year after year their child got “healthy weight” and then one year, they got “overweight,” maybe that would give a head’s up to the parents? Or parents who have been trying to make changes in their life and the lives of their children, would be encouraged to see that their child is moving towards their “healthy goal.”
But yes, weighing 5th graders is hard. I believe our P.E. teacher has the weight shown on a display attached to the scale by a cable. It’s just a metal box the students stand on, and only the P.E. teacher can read the number. I think that would help. The students have nothing to talk about.
Elizabeth says:
July 25, 2011 at 10:32 pm (UTC -5 )
I feel a little better knowing that ALL the kids get a letter sent home after the fitness test. Also, I’m glad to hear that some schools are using a more “private” type of scale. If none of the kids see their weight, then they can’t talk about it with each other.
JL goes Vegan says:
July 25, 2011 at 4:57 pm (UTC -5 )
Well, you know that I am interested in this topic!
I think this is what it comes down to, right? Fitness/health versus size/scale. I don’t know what the answer is. But I don’t think it’s assigning someone a number to “strive” for, which can lead to lifetime to chasing a number that is often arbitrary. Tough stuff.
Elizabeth says:
July 25, 2011 at 10:35 pm (UTC -5 )
Yet, there is this “number” that we are supposed to weigh (or a range, actually) and it ends up being unhealthy, at least for me. I know it’s somewhat silly to chase that number, but it’s so hard to change.
Lee says:
July 25, 2011 at 8:29 pm (UTC -5 )
I don’t think schools should weigh their students. They can be weighed at the doctor. I know that as a 5th grader, I would be mortified. I actually remember getting weighed when I was a brownie in 3rd grade and everyone making a huge deal of everyone else’s weight.
Elizabeth says:
July 25, 2011 at 10:39 pm (UTC -5 )
I remember so clearly seeing those mortified looks on the kids faces. And I could relate. I hated doing that to them.
Jackson says:
July 26, 2011 at 3:52 pm (UTC -5 )
Having students being weighed at the doctor would be a wonderful solution if all children went to the doctor on a somewhat regular basis. Unfortunately, many parents can’t afford to or don’t want to send their child to the doctor. Some parents decide to send their child to school sick so that the school nurse can try to diagnose the problem. Sadly, school weight tests are probably the only time some children will ever step on a scale. I think for that reason, the State of Texas is right to require schools to check childrens’ weight.
Elizabeth says:
July 26, 2011 at 5:14 pm (UTC -5 )
Those same parents aren’t going to be able to do a thing about the fact their child is overweight or obese. Schools might be able to make a difference, though, if they didn’t have to make cutbacks in teachers, lunch programs, etc.
Elizabeth says:
July 26, 2011 at 5:25 pm (UTC -5 )
On the other hand… I think someone needs to know and care about all children. Weighing the kids in school might be the best solution for many kids. I just wish the public schools could back up those fitness tests and weigh-ins with some real “education” about health and fitness — and I know they are doing their best. Cutting school budgets is not going to benefit anyone. This is why I’m so torn about this “weigh-in” issue.
thehealthyapron says:
July 29, 2011 at 8:59 am (UTC -5 )
LOVE this topic Liz! Sharing it on my blog today!
Michelle @ Turning Over a New Leaf says:
July 29, 2011 at 9:23 am (UTC -5 )
I can definitely relate. When I was in 4th grade, I remember our fitness test in PE class. The weighing was indeed mostly private, but my PE coach didn’t seem to care. I was 90 lbs, which to my dismay was more than the burly guy in our year. When I told the coach my weight so he could record it, he blurted out very loudly for everyone in the gym to hear, “dang! you need to lose weight!”
I thought that was very hurtful and unnecessary.
So, I’m sure there are positive programs out there for children and their weights, but it was sad that our coaches didn’t seem to think there was any problem telling children they were fat.
Elizabeth says:
July 29, 2011 at 9:28 am (UTC -5 )
OMG. How can someone who works with children on a daily basis be so very thoughtless/ignorant/cruel (not sure what the right description is for him)?
I’m Lovin’ It. | The Healthy Apron says:
July 29, 2011 at 8:58 am (UTC -5 )
[...] 3. “To Weigh or Not to Weigh” Post at Run with Sneakers. [...]