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<p>Moderate caloric reduction combined with exercise (particularly strength training) is the best way to maximize fat loss and minimize lean tissue loss. You went about it the right way. But for others who go on extreme diets, don’t exercise, and lose too much lean tissue, their weight loss benefits are usually temporary.</p>
<p>When my DD was in 4th grade we walked around all the classrooms at open house. Teacher X had a 6x6 notecard taped on each students desk showing their weight and a chart in front showing the distribution. The distribution was interesting mathematically, but the weight on the desk has always bothered me.</p>
<p>Little Suzy was 55# and tiny, big ole Mary was 100#. Mary grew up to be very lean & slender and long boned and a graceful dancer, but she grew very tall very early and was gawky in 4th grade. She was never fat, but would have felt big and ungainly. Little Suzy was and still is tiny. It was a male teacher and he was clueless.</p>
<p>I still recall HS weigh in and being absolutely mortified to be 5’6" 117#- what a cow I thought I was, what wouldn’t I give to be that weight and be happy with it! But public authorities talking about your weight is not likely to lead to a helpful conclusion. What sicko S&M type came up with junior high and high school kids having public weigh ins and group showers? I have no issue being nude in a steam room at the gym as an adult, but why did some one think those things were advisable?</p>
<p>A friend of mine had knee issues, sports related knee issues and her HS doctor told her mother that she could help it by losing weight. I think she weighed about 125# and was a muscular athlete. At an age when girls are seriously at risk for eating disorders, a doctor would tell an athlete with a healthy weight that she ought to lose weight??? What is he thinking?</p>
<p>I’m surprised schools can do PUBLIC weigh-ins. Doesn’t this violate “medical confidentiality?”</p>
<p>But public or private, I don’t think it is a big deal. If the kid is a healthy weight, why would he/she need to hide that? (Truth is, the kid is overweight and he/she and parents don’t want that to be confirmed. Notice that the people who complain about the “healthy weight” range of the BMI being “unreasonable” are not those classified as “underweight,” but only those who are “overweight.” They still want to think they (or their kids) are “healthy weight.” But they’re not. Which goes back to why the state started the weigh-ins in the first place: parents are in denial. </p>
<p>I think pediatricians don’t want to bring it up because the (overweight) parents get very defensive and make excuses for their kids being overweight, and that just wastes the doc’s time. Also, many kids never see a doctor unless they are terribly sick or injured, (weight issues generally are not addressed in the ER) so it could be years between visits.</p>
<p>School is there to teach english and math, the rest should be left to parents. I would pull my child from school like that, overweight or normal weight. Enough brain wash going on already.</p>
<p>My BMI is 23.9 not bad for a 52 yr old woman with arthritis doncha think?
Still I think fat to muscle ratio is more important than weight- why don’t they go back to fitness testing- a’ la JFK?
[Exhibit</a> highlights JFK’s push for fitness - Fitness- msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21938059/]Exhibit”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21938059/)</p>
<p>I really don’t see many overweight kids in Seattle, nutrition consciousness is pretty high in the city, but the food served in the schools is inedible.
I see more kids who are obviously hungry, than overweight.</p>
<p>Do they still have the Presidential Physical Fitness test? I remember earning that patch for my Adidas jacket several years in a row 
That would be much more motivating to me than a public weigh in.</p>
<p>Sorry, atomom, at 117# I was not at all overweight, but all those 102# 15-16 year old girls watching made me feel overweight!</p>
<p>My kids’ private elementary school used to do weigh ins during gym class.My kids are normal weight but I felt for the kids who were heavy. Apparently they were very embarrassed, understandably. The MD’s office is OK for this, not in front of everyone at school IMHO.</p>
<p>I was publically weighed in elementary school for several years and, because I was overweight, was teased unceasingly. (And yes, my parents were well aware of my weight problem; one of my earliest memories at age four is our family doctor telling my mom in front of me that I was too fat.) The end result was that I became socially withdrawn and still had a weight problem. But, because I was too fearful to interact with people, I became an excellent reader and devoured books non-stop. I spent my youth at our local library losing myself in literature. </p>
<p>So, after beating myself up all this years because of weight, I take a more even-handed approach. I try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and take a daily walk. And I continue to make weekly trips to the library. (Re-reading MacBeth right now!)</p>