LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) -A local mom says her 9-year-old daughter was weight-shamed after a health screening was performed at her elementary school without her knowledge. She’s now worried that her child could develop an eating disorder because of the ordeal.
“I’m most upset right now with the information, that they are allowing people into our school that we aren’t aware of, that they are not sending things electronically,” Dee Sayson said.
The health screening is part of the state’s yearly health assessment which requires Nevada school districts to measure and weigh a sample of students in Grade 4 and Grade 7 who are potentially at risk for health conditions associated with the ratio between height and weight. Students are sent home with a screening sheet showing body mass index percentiles.
“Anyone who has dealt with any kind of weight problems or eating disorders, this is usually how it starts, this is the beginning, so those questions start coming up, ‘Well, how can I lose weight?’” Sayson said.
A statement from CCSD said a form was sent out to parents to notify families ahead of time about the screening, but Sayson says she never received it.
According to Dawn Cribb, a spokesperson with the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, school authorities are not required to provide notice to the parent/guardian of a child before measuring the child’s height or weight if it is not practicable to do so, but parents can decline to have their child screened.
Per NRS 392.420, “The notice must inform the parent or guardian of the right to exempt the child from all or part of the examinations. Any child must be exempted from an examination if the child’s parent or guardian files with the teacher a written statement objecting to the examination.”
Sayson says had she known, she would’ve declined to have her daughter screened.
“The doctor is responsible for my child and her weight and her health, I am responsible for my child’s weight and health, the school is responsible for the education,” she said.
The information collected will be compiled into a report to help with health initiatives and to apply for federal grants.
The state also said identifiable information of each student is not collected or tracked. Data is submitted by county and grade only.
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