Study: Report Cards on Children's Weight and Fitness Prompt Parental Involvement

Sending personalized report cards home with children about their weight and fitness can be a motivating factor for their parents to get involved in helping them reach a healthier weight.

Researchers from Cambridge Public Schools, Tufts University and the Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts evaluated the effect of this type of report card on family awareness and concern about a child's weight status, plans for weight control and preventive behaviors.

As reported in the August issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, the study involved 1,396 students from diverse ethnic backgrounds at four elementary schools in an urban area.

Some children were given personalized weight and fitness report cards to take home, while others took home general and non-personalized information about healthy weight promotion.

A third group acted as a control and received no intervention while the study was going on. Parents were later surveyed by phone about the materials their children brought them.

Parents of overweight students who received the report cards were more likely to know their child's weight status.

One-fourth of the parents in the report card group who had overweight children said they planned to get help for their children, compared to fewer than one in 10 for the general information and control groups.

Forty-two percent of the report card group planned physical activities for their overweight children, compared to 27 percent in the general information group and 13 percent in the control group.

Most parents in the report card group (91 percent) and the general information group (67 percent) who read materials requested annual weight and health information about their children.

"Among overweight children, the (report card) was associated with increased parental awareness of their child's weight status," concluded the researchers. "Although parents wanted (report cards) for their children, more research is needed to test this approach on children's self-esteem and plans for weight control."

Other sources: Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 2003;157:765-772