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New Data: 18 Percent Of Escambia Students Are Obese
April 9, 2013
The Florida Department of Health in Escambia County Monday released student Body Mass Index (BMI) data. The 2012-2013 data indicates that 64 percent of the students measured fall within a healthy weight range. This number has increased from 61 percent, as measured in 2005-2006. The number of students measured that are classified as obese has decreased from 21 percent in 2005-2006 to 18 percent in 2012-2013. No net change was seen in students classified as either overweight or underweight.
Dr. John Lanza, Director of the Florida Department of Health in Escambia County said, “While we’re seeing an impact from these efforts in our schools, we still have a long way to go. Facilitating lasting, generational changes can take ten to twenty years or more. We hope to continue to see a downward trend in the incidence of both overweight and obesity in our students.”
Reducing overweight and obesity requires a community-wide commitment. According to Lanza, “Everyone must do their part to help Escambia County change its culture about nutrition and physical activity. We need a community where good nutrition and regular physical activity are accepted as a normal part of our daily lives. We also need a community environment that enables us to make healthy choices. With 34% of our students overweight or obese, every parent, grandparent, neighbor, and community leader needs to be a role model for good nutrition and regular physical activity.”
Comments
16 Responses to “New Data: 18 Percent Of Escambia Students Are Obese”
Dennis,
Inactivity for six or seven hours per day could explain away thirty-five hours per week for thirty-six weeks per year. This still leaves them — all of us — opportunities to move the rest of the time.
David for time well spent
If genes played the major role in body type, people would not be getting fatter — since genes don’t mutate accross a population like that.
Physical exertation HAS changed. We sit at electronic entertainments playing games, reading these web sites, enjoying our television or movies or talking or texting with friends. Our sports are usually spectator. Plot these things with each other over time and the cause should be obvious.
David for seeing the obvious
I think SCHOOLS are the problem. Now hear me out. Almost ALL the children I have seen are pretty-well perfect until age 6 or 7. I submit that being cooped up in a school for 8 hours a day with only – what, MAYBE – 45 minutes exercise contributes to the alleged obesity problem that is in the schools. Most homeschoolers I know say they only spend 2 – 4 hours per day “in the class room.” Maybe the public education system has it all wrong.
@ Are you people serious?
The school health nurses only screen certain age groups – Kindergarten, 3rd, 7th and 9th graders. Students are not screened every year. If a child falls outside of the BMI parameters, the parent is made aware by getting a letter – this includes under weight children also. If the parent recieves a letter every year, they may have multiple children in Escambia County Schools. Contact the school district to confirm. Everything the school nurse does is mandated by the School District and Florida Administrative Codes. Yes, the nurse is a Department of Health Employee. However, they are put there as contracted personnel for the School District.
@ Are you people serious!
Are you serious???? I never suggested that combining my two children would equal on normal child. Why would I do that I have two perfectly above normal children? I don’t think anyone owes me anything, I’ve worked hard for everything I have, including my education. I do know what goes on in my children’s school and many of the schools in the county because while completing my Master’s degree I was a substitute school teacher. My concern with such flawed instruments outcomes being sent home is that children who are in fact healthy are given the notation they are not. Especially young ladies who suffer from poor self image as it is. Dr. Kevin R. Linam is absolutely correct, educate the children about good nutrition, give them recess, quality P.E. and let them be children. When all this was going on in school we didn’t have this obesity epidemic that we have today. Lastly we all need to educate our children that true beauty comes from the heart and soul and teaching morals and values are the only way to accomplish this. Unfortunately the FCAT doesn’t have a section for this so it is left out of school but at least my kids are learning it at home.
In my experience with children, 30 years of teaching, the thin children eat all the time and are never full. Genetics plays the greatest role in body type. Educate their minds, allow exercise, and games, fitness activities at recess, and physical education classes. After that, it is not the state-schools business to police body mass and weight. A body is just one part of a person, the least important part, the eternal spirit and soul are not addressed and far more important than looking good!!!
I have seen the kids that are getting these “fat” letters sent to their homes and it is so foolish! Only 1 kid that I have seen that has received this letter is in fact over weight, the others are so far from it. The school and govt need to stay the hell out of everyones business! I say we START by FORCING ALL the workers in the school system to LOSE WEIGHT FIRST! Bet this foolishness will STOP!!
@ Are you people serious?
If you read my comment, you would see that I said MOST PEOPLE THINK SHE NEEDS TO EAT MORE. I don’t buy her KK to put weight on her. She eats salads more often than not, she doesn’t eat candy, or cake, or ice cream, or french fries like most kids. I don’t recall blaming the school either. I stated the letter is crazy. I trust my kids dr more than a piece of paper. If I thought for one second that there was an issue with my kid I would deal with it. My biggest concern with these letters was that my child who is 12! has an issue with her weight. I think this will lead to other issues in the future if I am not diligent now with how I respond to this letter and to my child. Not every parent will take the time to notice if their child has negative changes because this letter might call them obese or in their minds “Fat”. At no time did my booty come into question here. I do volunteer at the school and take an active role in my childs life. I don’t recall saying I am owed anything. I was more concerned for the mental health of the children that get these letters. I don’t know what side of the bed you got up on this morning but you might want to try it again. You may want to actually READ what you are commenting on before you stick your foot in your mouth. Of course eating crow may be how you stay so incredibly thin……
I am shocked more by the comments that I have read here than anything else. According to some, they get a letter every year. The students are only screened in K,3,7,9. With that being said, either your kid is skipping grades or the grades are passing your kid by. If any of you bothered to read the letter that you received it frankly tells you that it is only a screening tool and is not to be used as a diagnosis. You are encouraged to seek further evaluation by your child’s pediatrician. More disheartening is the parent who feels that she can take her children’s weights and average them together to make two normal size kids. Please, that doesn’t work! It is true that muscle weighs more than fat and it is true that boys with muscles will have higher BMI’s. Intelligent people will seek a physicians opinion and be happy with that, know that again, the form was a screening tool. The parent who feels that her child needs to gain weight after being deemed overweight. Seriously, I think that you should reassess. Life is hard as it is. Don’t add baggage to your kid by lying. It is quite ok to tell your kid that you love them and all that, I don’t agree that we should ever call our kids fat. But turning it around and saying “Here honey, lets get you a Krispy Kreme” is way off target and counter productive not to mention enabling.
No one owes you people anything. Remember, it isn’t the school who is doing this. It is the health department. The health department who is trying to help you help yourself. Take the education that you are being offered. Do something with it, Don’t do anything with it. But, jeez! Stop acting like you are owed anything! Get up off your booty and go volunteer at the school that you are so distraught with. Help with something!
I agree. My daughter is in the 6th grade and I got a letter from the school stating she is over weight. She is active and at 5′3″ she weighs 100 lbs. IF you saw her you would NEVER say she is over weight. Most people think she needs to eat more. She has recently seen her dr who has NO issue with her weight. The main problem I have with the school doing this, my daughter saw the paper and is now constantly monitoring her weight and making sure she is either losing or at least not gaining any weight. And we have dr’s that want to know where anorexia and belemia (sp?) comes from????? Now I have a 12 yr old that I have to convince that she is fine and not over weight. Any suggestions Health Department?
This is crap every year the school weighs my son Scotty and takes his height. And send a paper home saying he is over weight and needs to see a doctor. But if you see my son he is not fat at all if any he needs to gain some fat. I believe they do these test on age and not self body cause if they did they would stop sending papers home saying my son is over weight. The schools don’t even feed the kids enough because if they did my kids and others would not come home acting like their stomachs are eating their backs.
I agree with Molino Mom. My son is in the 90th percentile for his weight, therefore he is “obese.” . . . BUT, he is also in the 95th percentile for his HEIGHT! The school system says he is “obese,” but his pediatrician says he is about 6 or 8 pounds overweight. I suppose the school’s answer is to lose weight and cut them off at the knees!
What age group saw the biggest decrease in obesity? Since the school nurses only screen certain age groups (K,3,7,9), it would be nice to know what age group is getting “healthier”.
When the schools stop classifying ketchup as a “vegetable” and a slice of processed white bread as a “grain”, allot REGULAR phys ed time led by a qualified instructor and that isn’t just a teacher paper-grading time (instead of focusing on a year of FCAT prep), then they can advise me on how to manage my child’s nutrition!
I understand that childhood obesity is an issue, ok I get it but the schools method of measurement leaves a lot to be desired. My son is a big kid, seriously he was 9 pounds at birth. His nature body make up is very muscular so he weighs more than other children of his same size. So every year I get a letter saying he is obese. He leads his grade level in laps ran in jogging club. He sees his pediatrician on a regular bases who says, “yes, he is a big kid but when you take his body type into consideration he is not obese.” My daughter on the other hand is tall and thin, honestly she often eats way more than my son. Once again this is her natural body build. So I get another letter every year stating she is underweight. She also sees her pediatrician on a regular bases and he says she is just fine, “she’s blessed with a fast metabolism.” The point of my lil story is the school and health department is making this assessment without using the necessary tools to truly make this determination. So at best the published results are an estaminet but definitely do not reach the level of a qualitative result therefore this information tells us very little.
If the families receiving food stamps are overweight by a certain percent of body fat then they should come off food stamps.