School Quits Using Body Mass Index In Grade
ELMHURST, Ill. (WBBM) -- A suburban school district is dropping a physical fitness requirement that angered parents because it was a bit too revealing.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Pat Cassidy reports, Hawthorne Elementary School in Elmhurst has long used six different tests to determine physical fitness grades, from number of push-ups to time running a mile.
But some parents objected to the school also using the child's body mass index, which measures body fat.
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The Chicago Tribune reports one mother in a group of 25 parents broke into tears describing how the BMI affected her fourth-grade daughter.
Elmhurst Community Unit District 205 has been measuring the BMI of students from grades 4 through 12 for several years, but Hawthorne is the only school that has been using it as part of a grade.
