Pediatricians begin tracking, reporting patients' BMI

(RNN) - With obesity reaching epidemic levels in the U.S., Michigan is doing something it hopes will help curb the rising trend.

Michigan pediatricians have become the first in the nation to monitor the body mass index of their patients and report the results - voluntarily and anonymously - to the state's department of health.

While southern states such as Texas and Mississippi typically make headlines for the expanding waistlines of their residents, Angela Minicuci, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Health, said the northern state is seeing a similar trend.

"We're tied for sixth or seventh, and it's getting worse," Minicuci said. "(Obesity is in) 12.4 percent of our youth, and the numbers are definitely going in the wrong direction."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Michigan is ranked seventh in the country with an obesity rate of 30.9 percent. That trails only Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas, the latter two of which lead Michigan by only one-tenth of 1 percent. CDC data also show Michigan has inched toward the top of the list since 1991.

Among the states implementing programs to address the epidemic among children, Mississippi established physical education and nutrition guidelines in schools. But a similar bill in Alabama gained no traction, and in Texas a proposed tax on sweetened drinks was poorly received and even garnered a Facebook page opposing its passage.

The Michigan initiative is not without its critics, either.

Among the detractors are those who say the program's effectiveness will be muted because doctors are not required to participate, do not receive additional training focused on obesity and are not under obligation to discuss the issue with the child or his or her parents.

Others say that while evaluating BMI is a good idea, it is not the best indicator of obesity.

In an interview with ABC News, Dr. Dan Cooper, chairman of the pediatrics department at the University of California at Irvine, said reporting only a patient's height and weight doesn't tell whether he or she is unhealthy.

"Take a high school football player who's 6 feet 1, and mostly muscle and someone who is 6 feet 1 and 30 percent fat, and they will have the same BMI," Cooper said. "If you have a kid in a fitness program who starts putting on muscle, his BMI may not change, but he is getting much healthier. I encourage discussion about weight and health, but you don't do it through mandating phony endpoints. This is just going to be a lot of money and bureaucracy. It won't' solve the problem."

Minicuci admits the program is not perfect, but said it is a start in the right direction and the state hopes it will get the ball rolling toward long-term gains.

"Our obesity summit worked on a plan to track obesity and by doing that we are making a difference. By tracking the statistics we are working toward becoming a healthier state."

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