When I saw an email from the school nurse, I figured it was the usual heads up that some new virus was about to make the rounds. But no — it was worse. The school was conducting BMI screenings in the coming weeks. I couldn’t opt my kid out fast enough.
I thought we had finally moved past the era of shaming kids over their weight, but here we are in 2025, and schools are still pulling kids out of class to measure their bodies using a scientifically unreliable, outdated metric. Massachusetts state law requires schools to conduct BMI screenings in grades 1, 4, 7, and 10 — but the fact that this practice is somehow still mandatory doesn’t make it right.
BMI (body mass index) was developed in the 1800s by a mathematician — not a doctor, not a scientist, and definitely not someone who had any business determining whether kids today are “healthy.” The BMI doesn’t account for muscle mass, bone density, genetics, or actual well-being. In short, the BMI is trash.
And yet, schools are still lining kids up like they’re in a 1950s PE class, pulling out the scales, and reducing them to a number that is scientifically meaningless on an individual level.
It’s bad enough that schools are using what has been proven to be bad science, but the real issue? The harm it does. Kids — especially young girls — are already drowning in toxic body messaging from social media, influencers, and pop culture. They don’t need their school reinforcing it.
A 2013 study published in the American Medical Association’s Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that teasing about body weight was associated with poor body image, unhealthy weight control practices, low self-esteem, and high depressive symptoms, including thinking about and attempting suicide. A 2020 article published in JAMA Pediatrics explained that weight-focused school interventions do more harm and essentially no good. We know BMI screenings don’t actually improve kids’ health. So why are schools still pretending they do?
School is supposed to be a place where all kids feel safe, included, and supported. So why are our schools still engaging in weight-based screenings that reinforce stigma and discrimination?
Not only is BMI a flawed metric, it has also been widely criticized for displaying race and ethnicity bias. Research has shown that BMI cutoffs were developed using white European body standards and don’t accurately reflect the health of people from diverse backgrounds. Study after study confirms that BMI is an unreliable predictor of health across different racial and ethnic groups. So when Massachusetts schools enforce BMI screenings, they’re not just promoting bad science — they’re reinforcing yet another way marginalized students are treated unfairly in the classroom.
Schools don’t measure kids’ cholesterol levels. They don’t track hydration levels. They don’t test for vitamin deficiencies. So why is body weight — something that is so individual, complex, and often genetic — still on their radar?
If schools actually cared about supporting kids’ health, they would:
- Fix school lunches so kids have access to real, nutritious meals instead of pushing body shame.
- Encourage movement in ways that feel good instead of framing exercise as a punishment for weight.
- Provide mental health resources that help kids build confidence and a positive relationship with food and their bodies.
But instead, we get BMI screenings — an outdated, useless measurement that does nothing but reinforce shame and anxiety.
I’ll be opting my kid out. And if your school is still clinging to this nonsense? Consider this your sign to do the same.
Massachusetts schools, it’s time to wake up. The BMI is trash, and you should know better by now.
