Of all people, the editors of The New York Times are the last group we expect to side with common sense or consumer freedom. In just the past month, there was an editorial mocking industry self-regulation on advertising to children, an editorial savoring the city government’s new requirement that restaurants who previously volunteered nutrition information must now publish it according to government dictate, and two separate editorials demanding greater government power over food. Imagine our surprise, then, at yesterday’s Times editorial railing against the practice of putting kids’ Body Mass Index (a measure of height and weight that has faced substantial criticism in the medical community) on report cards, writing that “schools aren’t helping if children think they’re being labeled as fat.” We’ve written about the folly of BMI report cards before, but we’re amused to see the Times joining us. It appears that — for once — the editors’ hyper-sensitivity about self-esteem has trumped their worship of government power. But somehow, we doubt this concern for feelings will suddenly stop the Old Gray Lady’s endless insults against the intelligence of American consumers.
