Recently passed Senate Bill 506 calling for tracking children's weight in Georgia schools has inspired some consternation among those who feel it to be yet another example of needless government intrusion. After all, it should be parents' responsibility to look after their offspring's weight, right?

Let me weigh in with a brief look at history —- my own —- to put things in a different perspective. I grew up in and attended the public schools of New Jersey. All districts in the state had the school nurses (one for every school, no less) recording weight and height twice a year, as well as conducting simple eye tests once a year. Later on, and I'm still not sure why, we underwent scoliosis checks. This happened some 40 years ago, and these routine checks took little time away from our studies. The recorded data probably never made its way out of the nurse's filing cabinet, but it allowed parents to know if they needed to get their kids to a doctor.

Perhaps this is why children in states like New Jersey are statistically healthier than those in Georgia. And it just so happens that those same kids who are healthier also show greater academic achievement, another area in which Georgia lags. In 2006, a fitness assessment performed through the Georgia Health Policy Center showed that most of Georgia's fifth- and seventh-graders are clinically unfit, unable to attain healthy performance on a test of their cardiopulmonary systems and failing at least two out of four tests of muscle strength, flexibility and endurance.

Obesity in children is a nationwide problem that's reached a critical point, with severe consequences on child health that have a negative domino effect on society. Obesity is correlated with asthma, diabetes and depression. These are common health conditions that cause multiple school absences. The more school kids miss, the worse their academic performance. The more sick days they endure, the less time parents can spend on the job. Business suffers because of reduced productivity. Surely, the health of our children reflects the health of the state.

On the other hand, current data show that kids with a healthier start in life tend to have better health over their lifetime and, on average, are more productive citizens. And if you think about the Bill Gates and Warren Buffets of the world putting considerable portions of their fortunes into public health programs, a serious look at health —- reinforcement of healthy lifestyles in school —- might be worth consideration.

What's missing from SB 506 is a provision that was effective when I was growing up in New Jersey and is effective in even more states today. A child's body mass index should not only be recorded, confidentially, by the school, but it should be sent home to parents so they can be actively involved in addressing their child's health risks. Although it is easy to assume otherwise, studies tell us that parents of overweight children are often genuinely unaware that their child is unhealthy and at risk for obesity-related disease. Timely information from an objective source can help stop an unhealthy trend before it becomes established.

Parents need to be involved, but we know that not everyone can be a good parent, and not every parent is naturally qualified to be a teacher. So if kids are in school for eight hours a day —- what amounts to daily temporary state custody —- it's probably a very good idea to impart some of life's lessons along with standard curriculum. But certainly, collecting health data of a broad student population during the course of the year is easy to do and can help the state make informed policy decisions down the road.

> Marc Marton is communications director for Voices for Georgia's Children.

 PAUL LACHINE / newsart.com