MONDAY MORNING POST: SHOULD THE ACRONYM, BMI, BE CHANGED TO "BRING MORE INFORMATION?"

SHOULD THE ACRONYM, BMI, BE CHANGED TO "BRING MORE INFORMATION?"

My wonderful followers,

After I posted my opinions on FB (see the post after the comments below.) I noticed that it was reached by 1,415 people. To me, that means that we can help a lot of mom's and dad's and ourselves by spreading the awareness of finding a solution to having shame involved using the BMI index/scale weight, etc. We have been hearing that it is up to us as individuals to bring our own questions into the doctor's offices. We need to be prepared with lists of our symptoms/issues because time is limited and doctors are so busy that we must advocate for ourselves and our children at the doctor. Here is an email I got from a friend (all names have been changed) 5 minutes after I posted this on FB. I am so glad that this mom knew to ask what to do when faced with taking her daughter to the doctor for a annual check-up. I have met her daughter and she is extremely active, she eats a wonderful combination of healthy foods and

treats and she is funny and witty and outgoing and far from being unhealthy. She is taller than the average girl her age, with a larger frame than the average girl her age and she is happy and outgoing. If she was based on the numbers on the BMI or scale, she would probably be in the "overweight" or more category. Here is where everything in her life could change. If the doctor tells her the same thing that was told to these last two kids, she, too, could leave feeling like she cannot eat any treats without getting fat. And her body-image and self-esteem could be totally tarnished and scarred. Please BMI-Bring More Information- to the doctor's office.

Deborah - thanks for posting this. Kate's annual exam is coming up and given that she is so tall for a 10 year old, I have worried about what the doctor will say about her weight (especially in front of her). Any recs you have on how to coach the doctor would be most appreciated.

Pam

Pam,

I love that you are thinking ahead!!! It is such a shame that you even should think this way but you are being very wise. I would call the doctor's office ahead of time, or send an email directly to your doctor, and let them know that you do not want ANY discussion about weight/BMI/food/exercise. You can tell them that if they MUST weigh her or do a BMI to just do it but not to talk about it. Tell Kate that they just use it as a guide for her in the next few years but it is not important. You can tell the doctor what YOU feed her and what KATE does for exercise but tell the doctor that you talk to Kate all the time about healthy living. Let her know that her GRANDMA (my wonderful 64-year-old client) exercises with weights 4-5 days a week and makes smoothies and healthy food with

Kate all the time together. So, I guess my point is, let your doctor know that you have the issues covered and if Kate has any questions, she will ask them on her own. But please do not talk about numbers, weight loss, BMI, etc. with Kate. She can email you after the appointment if she has anything further to say to Mom. Big hugs to you!!!!!!

Deborah

From another friend:

Deborah, It’s sad! Obviously, their health needs to constantly checked like everyone else (duh! 😜) but I know our pedi takes it with a grain of salt. Hers was high this last time bc she's due for a growth spurt so he just encouraged daily play, aka exercise, and gave me tips for being inside for the summer months. I asked him more in depth and he rolled his eyes and gave me a speech about how more pedis need to "know their patients" so they can properly do their job (i.e. Knowing when it's a real problem) bc most are becoming too lazy and are just dishing out tests without looking at their patients as a whole. Can you tell we love Dr Mike 😜 But I agree, this 1 scale cannot and should not determine our health! Btw, as a gymnast I've always been "overweight" bc I'm short and muscular.

😳Nancy

From another friend:

Deborah,

Why don't we start talking about how we "feel" in our bodies instead of how we look on the outside? In my work, I see many "fit" people who can't connect or feel their bodies. I bet this 7year old feels strong! Why not talk about that? I've always been little and being a gymnast when I

was young built solid heavy bone mass. I've always weighed more than I look and haven't owned a scale in 30 years. And beyond we'll-checks when my boys were babies I didn't do annuals even though insurance covered it. Mom's (in general) have stronger instincts and know what's best for their kids. I'm with you on this one on many levels (and don't get me started on what they tell adults about "well that's just aging...)" No!

Angie

MY FACEBOOK POST:

Please Understand that I am upset...more than upset, I am totally disappointed in what is happening in doctor's offices. I need some input from the medical community to explain and help me understand why this is still happening. Here is what is making my blood boil. Please read all the following: Here is an interaction from 2014:

Nov 2014....Food Print for Life...This is exactly what I am talking about when I ask my clients to throw their scales out the window. We cannot rely on numbers from a chart or on the scale to tell us if we are healthy human beings. And most doctors are the ones who fail to look at the whole picture...do they ask us how our eating is? Do they ask us if we are active? Do they ask us anything before they tell us we are "obese" because of a number on the charts or scales? This is outrageous and needs to be changed!!!

MIMI

This is my son. Yesterday his doctor told me that since his BMI is above the 85 percentiles, we will need to check his thyroid and his glucose levels. I told her she was crazy! His height and weight are proportionate. He is an

active 4-year-old who is very tall for his age. I pretty much said that I will not have my child defined by an arbitrary scale that takes your height times some number divided by some other number as an indicator that my son is obese. According to those calculations Michael Jordan is obese. It's time for us to take a stand and stop this insanity! There will be no tests.

THIS WAS POSTED 3 DAYS AGO...2017...FROM TERRY (NAME CHANGE AND PICTURES WERE APPROVED BY TERRY, SEE BELOW)

"Opinions please! I took my daughter who is 7 for her annual physical. I am 5'9 and her father is 6'3. She is obviously very tall for her age. Well, the doctor had a discussion with me in front of her (trying to be discreet but unsuccessful, about her weight and bmi). I was taken aback. She is only 7! I do not want her stressing about body image at her age. My daughter does gymnastics, played soccer, will swim all day and night if I let her. She can play outside and on a playground for hours. Obviously, I am conscious of what we eat, but she's a kid. She can have cake at a birthday party, she can have ice cream in the summer, I won't deprive her of fun. The doctor asked her what was in her lunchbox that day (of course it was the last day of school so there was a treat in there!). She asked what she eats for breakfast, if she's active. My 7-year-old left that visit and said 'Mommy I can't eat any of that stuff anymore I'll be fat.'

I felt like a failure and felt judged.

What do you all think? Too much at such a young age? It even had a notation about bmi on the paper we take home! My daughter is tall and solid, and strong and active. The last thing I want is her to worry about

this stuff at 7! I'm trying to set a positive example by being active, eating healthy and having the fun stuff in moderation."

.

ANOTHER POST FROM ME TO THIS POST:

Hey TERRY,

I have been thinking about this all day and I am just so pissed off that the issues I have had, myself, with body-image and food and weight are now being "GIVEN" to young boys and girls from DOCTORS!!!!! The BMI is totally BARBARIC and has not been changed in years. When they created this insanity (BMI,) it was way back in the days that most women did not lift weights and exercise and everything was about the scale and numbers because back then, the majority of WOMEN DID NOT WANT MUSCLES and did not know that muscles were very important to build and that would cause everything to change in the numbers. Would you mind ( I will never use real names, etc.) if I use your post to write a blog/FB post? I also would like to share it with one of my clients who is a doctor. The number of clients I have worked with over the years who have had children or themselves fat-shamed at THE DOCTORS is outrageous. I hope that you have moved passed this and I am sorry if I am bringing back the feelings but I want to be able to start changing this issue and your input would help. If anything can come out of this horrible situation, maybe it is

bringing the awareness to the medical community to stop damaging our children and ourselves. Thank you for letting me go on my rant!!!!!!

DEBORAH

I SAW PICTURES OF THIS 7-YEAR-OLD GIRL. SHE IS FAR, FAR AWAY FROM BEING OVERWEIGHT/OBESE/CLOSE-TO-BEING-OVERWEIGHT, ETC. SHE LOOKS SO STRONG, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND ENERGETIC. HER LEGS ARE MUSCULAR AND SHE HAS THE CUTEST LITTLE TUSH. NOT ONE SINGLE THING THAT WOULD MAKE YOU GO, HMMMMMM. 

Deborah Stern has been counseling her clients with a holistic and realistic approach to healthy eating and exercise for the past 25 years. After doing Jazz and Modern dance from age 3-22, she discovered aerobics and weight training. She was hooked and spent most of her time in the gym and/or studying nutrition and learning about the proper ways to exercise and to eat correctly to reach her goals. Deborah struggled with her own body image and food issues and realized she wanted to help other men, women and children who struggle with the same issues. Through her own trial and errors,

experimenting with all types of "diets" and fads, she finally found what worked for her and her clients. Educating her clients about food as fuel, not as a diet but how to eat correctly to allow the body to function properly, became Food Print for Life. Deborah works with all ages and genders. Some of her clients have never working out and some are training for triathlons. She works with people all over the country who want to discover new, healthy, easy and tasty ways of eating, doing phone nutrition sessions. This is Deborah’s passion and it shows. Her clients have made incredible changes to their mind, bodies and spirits.