Monday, March 4, 2013
The Booster wrestlers brought home multiple state titles this weekend.
If Cameron Watson was at all upset by the letter sent home from his school telling his parents we was classified as "obese," he's probably over it by now. Especially since Cameron, member of the North Andover Boosters Club wrestling team, won his state wrestling championship this weekend. Cameron, 10, now holds the state title in his weight class at 94 lbs. He went 3-0 and won the state title in Salem on Saturday by pinning his opponent in just under 30 seconds. The North Andover Boosters emerged with three state champions, four silver medals and two who placed in fourth place. Cameron had a busy week. After the story about the BMI letters spread online and through cable news, with television news crews interviewing him and his guest …
Friday, March 1, 2013
He's calling for reform of the Department of Public Health.
Several weeks after filing legislation to eliminate BMI monitoring in schools, State Rep. Jim Lyons of Andover is stepping up his battle against the "fat letters" and calling for "top-to-bottom reform" of the state's Department of Health. "The DPH acts like bureaucratic bullies, when it deals with families and school children," Lyons wrote about the controversial BMI letters in a statement Thursday. "At the same time, this bureaucracy has manifestly failed to protect public health and public safety in its disastrous lack of oversight of pharmaceutical manufacturers and its mishandling of state drug labs." A child's BMI is factored with a BMI-for-age chart established by the Centers for Disease Control, and a percentile (compared with age …
Friday, February 22, 2013
After public backlash over BMI notifications, two North Andover lawmakers are joining the fight.
One day last year, Selectman Tracy Watson received a school letter about her son Cameron. It wasn't about his grades or his behavior. It was to inform her and her husband that Cameron was classified as "obese." "Honestly, I laughed," Watson said. The letter -- part of a state initiative to monitor children's Body Mass Index -- explained BMI standards and encouraged her and her husband to contact their pediatrician. But the letters have many in town crying foul and have ignited a debate over the government's role in children's health. Body Mass Index is a number used to indicate body fat, and the number is determined by a child's weight and height. Watson's laughter was from surprise. Cameron plays sports and participates in martial arts. …
Felicia Tamulevich
9:01 am on Monday, April 8, 2013
These BMI letters are certainly concerning. I have three kids myself, all with similar diets, but with BMI all over the scale. My youngest, with the highest BMI, the only difference in his diet, is he drinks more milk. I have to wonder about Bone Density being a factor? And I'd like to point out an editorial flaw. There were not four fourth place winners, but two third place winners and one … more ›