Her parents are completely outraged.
Laura Cacdac received a letter from her daughter’s school following a height and weight screening by their health nurse.
And what that letter contained made Laura incredibly angry.
The letter stated that her 6-year-old girl Charley was “overweight” according to her BMI (body mass index) and expressed their concern over its affect on her health and academic performance.
Charley’s mum rang the school immediately to complain about the letter.
At first, I believed the school was doing a good thing to help their students. I have previously worked in primary schools and have witnessed highly obese children. So I thought - good on you school for taking initiative. I even cheered for the intervention.
But on digging a little deeper and I found a startling problem.When I entered Charley's details in a BMI calculator, the results determined that she is not in fact "overweight" but in a healthy weight range.
Have a look:
And a graph of the results:
I wondered why an earth she had to have a BMI test if she wasn't overweight. I learnt that BMI screening is a state-mandated program run by Palm Beach County Health Department to monitor child obesity. So, all children in Florida - no matter what their size have to do this weight defining test.
After receiving the letter, "Laura Cacdac called the school nurse, who said the letter was based on her daughter's body mass index, which indicated she may have a problem and should be evaluated by a physician," abc WPBF news said.