%0 Journal Article
%T Do Schools That Screen for Body Mass Index Have Recommended Safeguards in Place?
%A Elizabeth A. Lundeen
%A Nancy D. Brener
%A Sarah A. Sliwa
%A Sarah M. Lee
%J The Journal of School Nursing
%@ 1546-8364
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1059840518758376
%X The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that schools adopt 10 safeguards before launching a body mass index (BMI) screening program; however, little is known about schoolsĄŻ safeguard adoption. Authors identified questions from the 2014 School Health Policies and Practices Study that aligned with 4 of the 10 safeguards to estimate safeguard prevalence among schools that screened students for BMI (40.7%, N = 223). Among these schools, 3.1% had all four safeguards and 56.5% had none or one. The most prevalent safeguard was having reliable and accurate equipment (54.1%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [46.1, 62.1]). Providing staff with appropriate expertise and training was the least prevalent; respondents in 26.4% (95% CI [17.1, 35.6]) of schools received recent training on weight status assessment, weight management, and eating disorder identification. School-based BMI screening is common, but adopting multiple recommended safeguards is not. Absent these safeguards, BMI screening programs may fall short of intended outcomes and potentially incur unintended consequences
%K BMI
%K health/wellness
%K obesity
%K screening/risk identification
%K policies/procedures
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1059840518758376