New York City public schools have been evaluating students' weight on their report cards for a decade, including a BMI number, a weight percentile, and a designation indicating whether they're at a healthy weight or not. That hasn't helped students lose weight, a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study out Monday shows.
In fact, the average overweight girl gained more weight than her lighter peers.
Similar studies have been carried out based on high schools in other areas, but AP reports the New York City study so far is the best evidence to suggest the National Institute of Medicine's recommended in-school BMI measuring doesn't work as planned due to the large number of kids tracked: 1.1 million.
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