ODH report finds 1 in 3 Ohio schoolchildren is overweight or obese

The Ohio Deparment of Health issued its first report on BMI rates in Ohio schools and found that 1 in 3 schoolchildren screened last year was overweight or obese (Source: "Screening finds 1 in 3 Ohio students overweight," Associated Press via New Philadelphia Times Reporter, July 26, 2012).

ODH is required to annually compile BMI rates at Ohio schools as part of a 2010 law called Healthy Choices for Healthy Children. Among a number of intiatives in the law aimed at curbing childhood obesity is one that establishes body mass index screening for students in kindergarten and grades 3, 5 and 9, according to the report. The screenings were conducted in 213 school districts across with the state, while 686 school districts opted out of the testing.