Students to Be Graded on Weight
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}To combat childhood obesity (search), every Arkansas public school student this month will be receiving two report cards in the mail: one assessing them on math, science and social studies, and the other grading them on their weight.
"We're going to know how many are overweight, how many are underweight, how many are normal weight," said Margo Bushmiaer, health services coordinator for the Little Rock School District (search).
As soon as next week, each parent will receive their child's ranking. The report cards also come with helpful health information, which aims to help parents make better meal choices for their kids, as well as reiterating the importance of exercise in everyone's life.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But not everyone's on board with this anti-obesity plan.
"There are some children that probably will be teased with other children knowing how much they weigh and starting to make fun of them," said Karen Phelps, the parent of a fourth grader.
There is also concern that the weight-oriented report cards may cause an epidemic of anorexia and bulimia among older students. The school district says it will now be on the lookout for those health problems.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Click here to watch a report by Fox News' Phil Keating.