Page 14 | Government wanting to weigh children

birthdaybelle · 2020-08-11T06:28:00+00:00

Anyone see this on Jeremy Vine this morning? Loads of backlash (rightly so!) about children's mental health and eating disorders etc. But what stands out to me is another bloody bashing of every day people trying to feed their kids on meagre wages or benefits. More shame piled on to us because on top of everything else, our kids are fat.

WorraLiberty · 12/08/2020 18:50

@Ariela

It's a shame that all they do is weigh children in Yr6. We got a note home stating DD was in danger of being obese - based solely on her weight & age I assume. It didn't take into account that despite being 2nd youngest she was actually the 2nd tallest, and very very athletic - in sports day lapped almost her entire year to win the 600m, and pulled her team who were last in the relay till she got the baton to win.

These things have to be done carefully. For months after she worried about eating anything 'nice' like ice cream on a hot day.

And how on earth did she know what the results were??

Timeforanotherusername · 12/08/2020 19:25

@Ariela

It's a shame that all they do is weigh children in Yr6. We got a note home stating DD was in danger of being obese - based solely on her weight & age I assume. It didn't take into account that despite being 2nd youngest she was actually the 2nd tallest, and very very athletic - in sports day lapped almost her entire year to win the 600m, and pulled her team who were last in the relay till she got the baton to win.

These things have to be done carefully. For months after she worried about eating anything 'nice' like ice cream on a hot day.

So are you saying that they don't take age and height into account?

somewhereovertherainbutt · 12/08/2020 19:58

@Harpingon

Parents at our school complained about weighing of children (even though the results are completely confidential) They complained about the new healthy school dinners and bought chips to the school gates for their kids. They complained when sweets and crisps were banned from the playground at home time and stood outside the gates with big bags of sweets to protest. We had some really obese children who are now truly morbidly obese teenagers and now the same parents are complaining that the government isn't doing anything to help them. We need to stop blaming everything else and take responsibility.

And that's because they see treats rather than unhealthy food. In their eyes, they are showing love, and any bans look like 'do gooders' saying they are bad parents. It's very complex, and us in UK have an extremely disfunctional attitude to food - children eating totally different food to adults, 'naughty but nice' cream cakes etc. IMHO the obesity issue won't go anywhere until the psychological beliefs are addressed. Even Weightwatchers found this out! Food can be another form of addiction - pleasure, not expensive when you buy shite, advertising backs up your bad choice, serotonin hits when you eat it, a quick pick me up.

nancybotwinbloom · 12/08/2020 21:57

They can weigh my kids when I can see their competency and personality tests online live

whirlwindwallaby · 13/08/2020 07:29

Fruit has greater health benefits overall than sweets (obvs, there are no nutrients at all in sweets) but sugar wise, there isnt a huge amount of difference. Of the 5 a day advice, only 2 (max) of those 5 portions are supposed to be fruit because of the high sugar content.
Depends which fruits. Many are lower in sugar. Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, avocado, tomato, peppers, cucumber, are all quite low in sugar.

Flaxmeadow · 13/08/2020 09:31

Teachers aren't allowed to "upset" parent's any more. You can't tell then individually that their kid has nits. Instead schools now send out emails to all parents

This has always happened. Though obviously not by email

I'm a grandmother and when I was a child we had regular nit nurse examinations and every parent recieved a letter about it afterward, whether the child had nits or not

Having nits was rare back then. Even in very deprived overcrowded areas.

Shalaalaa · 13/08/2020 10:04

Teachers aren't allowed to "upset" parent's any more. You can't tell then individually that their kid has nits. Instead schools now send out emails to all parent
When dd was in Reception - I went into the class to let the Teacher and TA know that dd had nits so she could let the other parents know they had to check - I thought I was doing the responsible thing but both of them recoiled in horror, screwed up their faces and said Ewwwww! I wasn't expecting that! I didn't expect anyone to be thrilled with the idea but revolted about nits from a Reception Teacher was a bit much! I learned my lesson not to share anything delicate about my kids with them! She didn't spare feeling with regards to dcs abilities either - she ripped the kids to shreds during Parent Teacher meetings, I like all the other parents faced her as a couple.

Porcupineinwaiting · 13/08/2020 10:25

@Flaxmeadow at pur school they checked for bits and if they found any the children on that table were sent home (this was 1980s). Everyone always knew who had been found w nots - they were popular with all the others that got the rest of the day off, it wasnt a source of shame at all.

Porcupineinwaiting · 13/08/2020 10:26

nits

Iverunoutofnames · 13/08/2020 10:33

I know someone who has shared a news article about this on FB. One of her friends has commented about how she won’t allow her children to be weighed again after they told her in reception they were obese and they were perfectly healthy. Her profile pic is her children, they are both extremely overweight.
I slightly think it’s all a waste of time anyway.

Natsku · 13/08/2020 11:19

Don't understand why people are against this, ought to be done every year. Where I live DD gets a health check from the school nurse every year with weighing, measuring, scoliosis check, and as she gets older checking on puberty development, along with a chat about how she is feeling, does she have any issues etc. Its preventative healthcare - spot problems, physical and psychological, before they become too big.

PasstheBucket89 · 13/08/2020 11:28

Will the teachers and health visitors be weighed? its difficult to imagine any lecturing on weight when so many are overweight themselves, its not fair to humiliate children in a hypocritical way.

40andginger · 13/08/2020 11:42

Adults can make there own decisions children can't when it comes to food so action needs to be taken as their are too many overweight children
Even if the weigh ins are not doing anything which I doubt as its certainly got all of us talking about it and even if the people on this thread who have overweight children take notice then at least some children are being helped

WorraLiberty · 13/08/2020 11:55

@PasstheBucket89

Will the teachers and health visitors be weighed?

its difficult to imagine any lecturing on weight when so many are overweight themselves, its not fair to humiliate children in a hypocritical way.

Not as part of a programme aimed at children, no. Why would they be?

And what has it got to do with teachers anyway?

No-one is humiliating children btw. It's the parents who for their own reasons tend to have a problem with this 🙄

BogRollBOGOF · 13/08/2020 12:01

Bogrollbogoff

Macdonald is not healthy
Allergies! That's the worst excuse I've heard for giving your kids shit food

I don't care what people eat but they need to take responsibility for their children and give them the best start they can! And a plant based diet reduces obesity amongst other things

Plant based soya was literally shit food in DS1's case. Shit blasting out of his nappy from his neck to his knees and screaming in agony from the stomach cramps. Having a child with allergies and intolerances, you have to feed them with food that will not immediately make them ill. Fish fingers, chips and a bag of apples and grapes from McDonalds is not inherently worse than many other children's menus. When your child has multiple allergies you go to places that you know have foods that will not make your child immediately ill or have hidden ingredients.
McDonalds is a small part of their diet which while nothing to blog about is balanced overall. Both DCs are fit, low end of healthy BMI and rarely ill.

Demonising certain foods is not helpful. It's frequency, overall variety and being appropriate to the child's needs that matters.

BogRollBOGOF · 13/08/2020 12:07

I think with active children who do organised sport, it's easy to overestimate activity levels and energy burned. Many sports such as swimming, gymnastics and dance involve a lot of time taking turns and waiting by the edge. They are still worthwhile activities with many benefits beyond energy usage, but from a weight/ energy in- energy out perspective it's easy to overestimate a child's fitness and activity level.

40andginger · 13/08/2020 12:51

Bogrollbogoff
Alot of people are intolerant to soy its very common
It's very easy these days also to avoid certain foods now as most places cater too allergies etc
Most take out food tho is not healthy with the odd exception it's high in sugar and salt deep fried etc
It's actually surprising how much salt is in a kids happy meal which are aimed at children
But the are convenient for some
Personally I would rather make a lunch or a picnic for my DD I do appreciate it is because we are plant based that it's probably easier for me to do this as eating out to me feels like more of a hassle tbh
Plus my DD loves a picnic
Before we were PB we would maybe meet a friend in a cafe or something and the food was awful its one of the reasons that made the switch easy for us

Roswellconspiracy · 13/08/2020 13:05

I think with active children who do organised sport, it's easy to overestimate activity levels and energy burned. Many sports such as swimming, gymnastics and dance involve a lot of time taking turns and waiting by the edge. They are still worthwhile activities with many benefits beyond energy usage, but from a weight/ energy in- energy out perspective it's easy to overestimate a child's fitness and activity level

Also with many activities. Maybe less so the sports ones but perhaps things like holiday camps and toddler groups etc food has become the easy way to occupy them fir half an hour or so. So you apuld pay for an hour or whatever then as you say when you deduct the waiting for late comers, changing, organising time you are down 5/10 mins then half way through it's break /snack time. That's another 20 mins gone. The times doing the actual activity you paid for are dismal really. Its all just "keep them quiet/still with food"

CountFosco · 13/08/2020 21:04

I think with active children who do organised sport, it's easy to overestimate activity levels and energy burned.

I think that's very age dependent. Although it's true with young kids, with older kids who are training with a squad or team they absolutely are being worked hard. DD1 (12) wears an activity monitor. She plays football 4 times a week and swims 4 times a week. Prelockdown she was averaging >20000 steps and >2h exercise a day.

Mumratheevergiving · 17/08/2020 10:22

Just seen a fbook post with parents complaing about the 'small' sizes for age specific school uniform - parents saying their kids are in age 13clothes at 8years old (for waist not height)& saying it's just their childs shape & that they are curvy and not skinny... people just can't seem to acknowledge that their children are overweight and the worst thing is lots are saying how their children hate it and it's making them paranoid. Please help them get to a healthy weight then.

Gancanny · 17/08/2020 10:40

Oldest DS is overweight due to medical/developmental issues so it's something we are aware of and it is being managed as part of his overall care plan but I've never had trouble getting him school trousere to fit. He is 11 and is wearing 11-12 trousers, the only adjustment I've had to make it to take his hems up slightly because he has short legs. 10-11 did fit his waist but the hems on those were slightly too short.

I have the opposite trouble with youngest DS. He needs age 7-8 trousers for the length but the waist on them is huge even when the adjustable waistband is on its tightest setting. Last year I ended up buying him braces to keep them up.

Sirzy · 17/08/2020 10:45

I have found M and S best for school uniform . We get the slim fit skinny leg trousers and they just about adjust enough to fit DS (now at the very bottom of healthy weight)

RedCatBlueCat · 17/08/2020 11:50

We also do M&S trousers - extra long legs, and size down as far as you can. My oldest will be starting secondary on Age 8-9 extra long, with the adjustable waist pulled in as far as it goes. I just hope school dont stick to the "Trousers must measure more than 17cm round the hem" rule, because these dont, despite not being skinny fit.