Melrose moms outraged kids’ BMIs recorded at school without consent

MELROSE, Mass. — Some Melrose moms are outraged that their children were weighed and measured at school without the families’ knowledge and consent.

Kim Lyall, mother of a 10-year-old girl, said her daughter and all her fourth-grade classmates at Roosevelt Elementary School underwent body mass index (BMI) screenings in the hallway outside the nurse’s office Tuesday.

“I was floored. I’m not one to typically be speechless, and I was speechless,” Lyall said. “My daughter was subjected to humiliation being weighed in front of her classmates.”

Massachusetts law requires all public schools to record BMI screenings for students in first, fourth, seventh and tenth grades and report the results to families.

But the law, which was rolled out in 2011 to help curb childhood obesity and prevent diabetes and other disease, requires parents and guardians to be notified before the screenings with the ability to opt out their children, if desired.

Lyall told Boston 25 News fourth-grade parents never received notification. Had she received the form, she would have opted out, Lyall said.

“Her privacy was violated. This was done in front of her peers. This was done without my consent,” Lyall said. “I feel like bullying at this age, a lot of it stems from being overweight, being underweight.”

Anthony Chui, Health and Human Services Director for the City of Melrose, apologized to affected families in a statement released to Boston 25 News Thursday.

“I’d like to express my sincerest apologies to the Melrose families who did not receive notice of the BMI Screening that took place at the Roosevelt school on March 8, and therefore were unable to have the opportunity to opt their child out of the screening,” Chui said. “We have spoken to the staff member who conducted the screening and can confidently state that there was no breach of confidential BMI data by any nursing staff. The Health and Human Services Department will continue to work with the School administration and nursing staff to address these privacy concerns in addition to any concerns around the wellbeing of our students to assure this does not happen in the future.”

Lyall said families of older children had been notified by their school of the screenings. It is unclear how many families in the district and what grades were not notified.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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