A mum was furious after her daughter’s school sent her a letter saying her healthy little girl was overweight. 
 
Laura Bruij Williams, from New York in the US, was tucking her daughter Gwendolyn into bed when the young girl asked her if she was fat.
 
“She said, “Hey, Mum. The school told me I’m overweight.” And then she started jiggling her thighs, and saying, “Is this what they mean?’” said Laura.“That was heartbreaking.”
 
According to Gwendolyn’s Department of Education-issued Fitnessgram - she is 4-foot-1, 66 pounds (or just under 30kg) and has a Body Mass Index of 19 which puts her in the ‘overweight’ category rather than ‘healthy weight.’
 
Nine-year-old Gwendolyn was one of more than 800,000 public school students who were weighed and measured back in November as part of an Office of School Wellness Program.
 
Instead of posting the information to parents, it was handed out at school.
 
The children were told not to open the Fitnessgrams, but for many it was very easy to view the information which was only sealed with a small sticker.
 
According to the mum, several children were in tears on the school bus after they opened their Fitnessgrams to find themselves labelled 'fat'.
 
“Girls shouldn't be crying on the bus at eight years old because they read a piece of paper saying they're obese,” she wrote on her Facebook page as she and other upset mums voiced their frustrations with the Department of Education.
 
According to the BMI system used by the Department of Education, Gweddolyn was just one pound overweight. 
 
However her mum says when she ran the same figures through another BMI tool, her daughter came out in the middle of the ‘healthy weight’ section.
 
When Laura confronted the school principal about the letter, she was told the children weren’t meant to open the letter.
 
“My response is, they’re kids. How can you believe they’re not going to open it?” said Laura.
 
“It’s a very positive thing for some kids who are overweight, but we shouldn’t be putting these assessments in the children’s hands,” she added.
 
The principal told the mum that they will consider sending the Fitnessgrams home next year in a sealed envelope with the report cards.
 

Latest

Trending