Fourteen north country school districts are responsible for collecting and reporting body mass index data to the state Health Department to help combat childhood obesity.

The state Legislature passed a law in 2007 which requires BMI and weight status categories to be included in students' health certificates when they enter school and in grades two, four, seven and 10. The law doesn't apply to New York City public schools.

Suzanne C. Smith, Sackets Harbor Central School nurse, said BMI and weight categories are good things the district should be focusing on to determine if there are underweight or overweight children.

"Obese children grow up to be obese adults, and there's a lot of room here for us to educate ourselves," she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BMI is a number calculated from a person's weight and height. It provides an measure of body fat and is used to screen weight categories that may lead to health problems.

The deadline to report BMI information to the state is Jan. 29. Data will be submitted electronically via the department's Health Provider Network.

The five grades the state Health Department wants information on are the ones the state requires to have health appraisals on, Mrs. Smith said. The BMI data would be a part of the physical exam, and while it is confidential, parents may choose not to have their child participate in the data collection.

Leueen Smithling, Beaver River Central School superintendent, said she's excited the district gets to submit data because it recently implemented a program where children can devote a portion of their lunch period to exercising.

"This year, we're offering it for every lunch period," she said. "They go to lunch first and when they're finished, they can go for the remainder of the period to the gym."

Not only is the exercise program helping children stay active, the district is also seeing a decrease in discipline referrals.

"Kids burn off energy and are more focused to go back to class," Mrs. Smithling said.

With the BMI data collection, she said she is looking for concrete facts so the district can determine the scope of the problem, and work a solution into the curriculum.

Barbara A. Dennison, director of the Bureau of Health Risk Reduction for the state Health Department, said the state recognizes there's an epidemic of childhood obesity, and it's trying to change that.

"In New York, we really don't have good measures of the prevalence of childhood obesity among school-age children," she said. "We do periodic surveys, but this puts a measure in place so we can assess what the prevalence is."

Once data is collected, the state will identify communities that have high needs and direct resources to those communities, Dr. Dennison said.

She said more than 2,000 school nurses statewide have been trained to measure BMI.

Dr. Dennison commended school districts, such as Watertown City School District, for already offering fun, physical activities for children, as well as healthier eating choices.

Patricia B. LaBarr, principal of the district's H.T. Wiley Intermediate School, said although the school's fifth- and sixth-graders aren't participating in the BMI data submission, she hopes increased physical activity will make a difference by the time they reach seventh grade.

"We're promoting kids in schools to be lifelong learners, and a part of that is a healthier lifestyle," she said.

The H.T. Wiley Parent-Teacher Organization recently received a $5,000 Steps to a Healthier New York grant which will cover the cost of updated playground equipment students will be able to exercise with, along with other equipment that includes a BMI scale.

A one-mile walk is also planned for the school at 12:05 p.m. Sept. 19.

Although some school districts recently implemented programs to promote healthier lifestyles, South Jefferson Central School District Superintendent Jamie A. Moesel said her district has been tracing BMI information for several years.

"We've been proactive in that sense," she said.

Colton-Pierrepont Central School Superintendent Martin J. Bregg, said that BMI data collection is new to the school district.

"There's a whole issue with childhood obesity in our society," he said. "Once we calculate the information on BMI, we'll look in following years to see if we have a trend and if the grade levels prove to our community if we have an issue or not."