6-Year-Old Was ‘Fat-Shamed’ By School According To Livid Mother [Video]

Laura Cacdac of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. is furious at the cruel way she feels her 6-year-old daughter was treated by her school.

Her daughter Charley brought home a note from the school nurse. The document informed Laura that her little girl’s Body Mass Index or BMI was a bit high for her age.

According Cacdac, the youngster is 4’2 and 60 lbs. Laura denies that her daughter is overweight, saying that Charley is “muscular and perfect in every way.”

What’s most upsetting to the mom isn’t that her daughter was labeled as overweight by her school—it’s that Charley was given an impersonal form letter that she could easily understand.

In actuality, Laura Cacdac’s daughter learned of the supposed weight issue by listening to her mother’s concerned phone call to the school.

“Do they think I’m fat? Is there something wrong with me?”

Cacdac may have felt that her daughter was unfairly singled out, but apparently the BMI screening is required for children her age across the state of Florida. It is a way for the Palm Beach County Health Department to keep tabs on childhood obesity and come up with ways to intervene.

“It’s not a stigmatizing letter,” said spokesperson Tim O’Connor. “We noted the BMI may be high or whatever, and it’s a recommendation to the parents.”

Laura Cacdac doesn’t take issue with the program; she doesn’t approve of the way school officials choose to address their concerns.

The angry mom feels that the school should find a more private and respectful method of communicating health issues or any other sensitive information to parents in a more sensible manner. Simply sending the letter home with young children like Charley, is unacceptable to Laura.

She told WPTV-5 that she was worried this could “stick with [Charley]” for life.

“Something like this can stick with her for the rest of her life. It is going to stick in her head…am I fat? Do they think I’m fat?'”

Laura has a valid reason to be worried.

Her daughter Charley has spoken up, not about fears over her BMI, but about being afraid that she might be fat.

“If I was fat, it would make me sad and kind of feel bad, like I was kind of different than everybody else.”

Do you think Laura Cacdac has a right to be concerned? Should the school find a better method of addressing health issues?

[Image via WPTV-5]