When will counties be able to access BMI data being collected by schools?
Legislation was passed in 2007 requiring public schools outside of New York City to collect and report a summary of students’ weight status. The law requires BMI and weight categories (based on BMI for age percentiles) to be included on each student’s health certificate at school entry (pre-kindergarten and kindergarten) and in grade 2, 4, 7 and 10. Starting with the 2008-2009 school year, schools will be required to report student weight status information to generate estimates of childhood obesity rates for each county and for the state as a whole, exclusive of New York City. The sampling plan was designed to result in half of the school districts within a county reporting one year and the other half of the districts reporting the following year. Within a county, school district poverty, race and enrollment were used to stratify the districts and ensure a representative estimate. Schools participating this school year must report the information by January 29, 2009. It is hoped that
