Unintended consequences

[birdwatcher]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Arkansas, the first state to send home obesity report cards, may drop the plan or weaken it.

The cards are intended to warn parents of overweight kids' health risks.

But Gov. Mike Beebe said the school weigh-ins and report cards have "a lot of negative, unintended consequences" and hurt some children's self-esteem. He favors letting parents drop out of the program more easily and wants the state to test children less often.

Since Arkansas adopted its school-based anti-obesity program, California, Florida and Pennsylvania have launched similar efforts.

Comments

[marimhe.livejournal.com]

there are different ways to deal with the risk of obesity. Take your example of Canada. I don't think that putting a child in a situation where he or she becomes a derision for his peers is a very good or clever one. After all, many children (and adults as well) choose food as a source of comfort when they suffer from their complexes. So basically, this effort is worthless. And in the end you have both children and later adults who suffer from low self-esteem.