Impact of Weight Status Reporting on Childhood Body Mass Index.

ABSTRACT: Background: Many states have adopted school-based BMI screening or surveillance programs in an effort to address high rates of childhood obesity, some of which involve provision of confidential BMI reports to parents. While there is evidence that parents are attuned to information in the reports, there is less evidence showing that the reports are effective in preventing excess childhood weight gain. Methods: Data from Arkansas, the state with the nation's first and longest running and BMI screening program, were used to measure the impact of BMI reports. This was done through a regression discontinuity design that compared future BMI z-scores among children falling within a narrow band around the obese and overweight thresholds. We derived the effects of

SUBMITTER: Kim B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9529310 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature