Solutions to a pressing health problem are fighting an uphill battle:

But across the country, the new rules are also sparking a backlash among parents, children and even some teachers and school officials. The efforts often draw derision for being too extreme and demonizing children. Arkansas, the first state to pass legislation requiring schools measure students’ body-mass index, backtracked last month and now allows parents to refuse the assessment. The question of weight in Arkansas has been a sensitive one since former Gov. Mike Huckabee shed more than 100 pounds a few years ago and encouraged locals to follow his example.

Rosey Barbour was a member of the Gillette “Task Force” that devised the health initiative. Her 12-year-old son Taylor, who attends Rawhide Elementary, was bullied for being overweight. Then in December, the family received a letter inviting him to take part in a fitness and nutrition program.

Seth Barbour, Taylor’s father, “was a little past mad,” he recalls, given Taylor’s sensitivity about his weight. The Barbours never told their son about the invitation.

While on the task force, Mrs. Barbour fought some of its initiatives, in particular the move to put BMI scores on report cards. “Everything the Healthy Schools Task Force has done has been controversial,” she says.