WHAT IS THE BMI REPORT CARD?
In response to the childhood obesity epidemic, the Institutes of Medicine have recommended that schools conduct annual assessments of each student's height and weight and body mass index(BMI) percentile and make this information available to parents. Schools are optimal settings to implement BMI screening programs. Several studies have evaluated school-based BMI screening and parent notification programs suggesting that parent notification programs increase parental awareness of their child's weight status, elicit parental support for the program and may be a useful prevention tool for children. The BMI Report Card software has been developed by the University of Nebraska at Kearney to provide school nurses and staff with a mechanism for calculating BMI using students' body weight, stature and then classify the student based on BMI percentiles developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The site also allows school nurses to print BMI Report Cards to deliver information to parents and aggregate data to be used by school districts, counties and state officials for prevalence reporting.