NEW YORK – A recent study on body mass index report cards issued to students in New York City shows that the health notifications don’t help students get healthy, and may even make things worse for some overweight students.

Over the last 10 years, New York City public schools have provided students with body mass index reports that included a BMI number, weight percentile, and designation as “underweight,” “healthy weight,” “overweight” or “obese,” the Associated Press reports.

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When the New York Post highlighted the fact that some perfectly healthy students were labeled “overweight” by the system last year, the city changed the destinations to a “healthy fitness zone” and “needs improvement.”

But a study published Monday in the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows the effort has had little to no impact. Researchers looked at measurements from all city students between 2007 and 2012, with particular attention to those just over and under the “overweight” and “obesity” thresholds, and found no indication the information helped students lose weight.

“In fact,” the AP reports, “the average overweight girl gained a bit more than did her cohort just below the threshold.”

The news service noted that childhood obesity rates have seemingly leveled off in recent years, and previous studies on student BMI reports in California, Massachusetts and Mexico also showed little impact on actually helping students become healthier.

University of California at Davis education professor who studied student BMI reports in Arkansas, the first state to implement the strategy, called the recent New York City study “the strongest evidence so far” that the reports are ineffective.

Parents like New York City mom Laura Bruij-Williams knows first hand that the BMI reports are misleading, as her very thin daughter, Gwendolyn, was labeled “overweight” because she was one pound over city’s “healthy” threshold.

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She told the Post she believes schools should focus on things that will actually help students become healthy adults, rather than attempt to fat shame them into losing weight.

“Our children deserve better,” Bruij-Williams said. “If they are truly concerned with the health of their students, they will carve out more time for real recess, not 15 minutes of structured play in which they can’t run or kick a ball too hard. There have been numerous studies proving that kids learn better when they’re allowed to blow off steam in the playground.”

Bruij-Williams is encouraging parents to opt their children out of BMI tests to send a message.

“Changes does not come without a fight, and it’s up to us to spur on that change,” she said. “Write letters. Attend council meetings. At the very least, opt out.”

Gwendolyn Williams told the Post she believes the school food is also contributing the unhealthy eating habits. Federal officials imposed regulations  on schools in 2012 at the urging of first lady Michelle Obama that require all students to take a fruit or vegetable, whether they want it or not.

In many schools, the vast majority of the greens go in the garbage, leaving students hungry and primed to gorge on junk food after school.

“They should make the food better, and not give us the vegetables that no one is ever going to eat,” Gwendolyn said.