Government wanting to weigh children

[birthdaybelle]

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.

It's disingenuous to say that weight is not a loaded topic, particularly for females.

If it were to be done in private, by trained health professionals? Maybe.

As an assembly line by teachers, in front of their peers, likely with the information being called out? No.

I've got one daughter, who we (including she herself) know she needs to keep very active, and a firm eye on the sugar and dairy consumption. The other daughter is skinny as a rake, yet prone to thinking she is overweight. Neither of those are going to be positively impacted by a weigh-in at school. A weigh in at school isn't going to tell us anything we don't already know.

In addition to that, several of skinny as a rake daughter's friends, have eating disorders.

I can see plenty of potential harm coming from this, and bugger all good.

So we will decline to be a part of this. Others who have a more positive view - go hard.

@mbosnz

Schools will weigh my children over my cold dead body. Or more accurately, the body of anybody that attempts to weigh them. The school's involvement with my children is with their education, that is their responsibility and duty of care.

The children's physical health is my responsibility along with their doctor's.

It isn't school that do it for goodness sake. It's an NHS team.

jan

Its one in 10 for reception kids isn't it? Or about that?

So effectively the rates double between yr-R and yr-6.

Would definately be better to do something in between rather than wait til yr 6 .

Also proves that going to school won't solve the lockdown weight problem as much as people think it will .

That's marginally better WentworthPrison.

Personally I think the Government, in terms of health care, would do well to focus on getting track and trace effectively operational.

No numbers are shouted out. The only reason a child would know the numbers is if their parents told them.

But of course it’s much better to hide from the truth and let parents keep their head in the sand

In addition to that, several of skinny as a rake daughter's friends, have eating disorders

Of course phones and YouTube and magazines and social contagion have nothing to do with this?

People are very quick to blame one afternoon in a school setting for sometning thats often a reault of many many factors.

Girls have always been involved in some kind of widespread group self harm. Be it cutting, eating disorders etc i won't say what it is at the moment as that's not what this thread is about .

But I very much doubt that one day im.school is something responsible for eating disorders

Eating disorders are not really a response to being weighed once by a school nurse. They are a culmination of lots of things. Social contagion, abuse, trauma, cjaotic homelives, reaction to puberty or bullying etc

As an assembly line by teachers, in front of their peers, likely with the information being called out? No.

That's such an uninformed assumption from so many Mumsnetters who refuse to have their children weighed at school.

They're often so busy protesting and bringing up eating disorders etc, that they don't actually make time to look into how the kids are weighed and how the parents are informed of the results.

But as I say, fortunately it really is (IME) very much a MN thing. In real life I know very few people who haven't allowed their kids to be weighed in school, although those who did were overweight themselves, so possibly projecting their own issues.

@GrumpyHoonMain

Weighing 8-12 year old girls isn’t particularly right unless you take into account which ones have gone through puberty and measure heights accurately. My local GP puts the tape measure above the skirting board at the surgery so all heights are at least 3 inches out - this means many adults and kids are deemed obese when they shouldn’t be.

Yes, this. DD was perfect weight in reception and now in year 6 is in full puberty and totally paranoid about her chest and hips. I know she will fret over it.

I think we make too many excuses in this country, 'poverty, lack of education, no time etc'. It's not good enough. Being overweight/obese has become normalised and acceptable. It's not all poor people going around with overweight children. In fact, of all the families that I know well with overweight/obese children, none of them are poor.

I spent the day with my two (morbidly obese) sisters yesterday. Both of them have dc in the obese category, one of them being only 10 years old. That dsis goes on about fat positivity and how weight isn't an indicator of health etc. Fine if you're happy being fat, but I do judge you if you allow your 10 year old to be so overweight they struggle to move comfortably. At least my other sister acknowledges it's a problem.

As an assembly line by teachers, in front of their peers, likely with the information being called out? No.

FFS. Keep your misinformation and prejudices to yourself!

The children are weighed in private by nurses. Not only is the result NOT 'called out' for all to hear but it is kept confidential even from the teacher.

It's very child friendly; the nurses are always lovely and the kids are just happy to miss maths, walk across school and chat to their friends for 10 minutes. It's a bit of a novelty in their day. That's the reality.

One of the arguments for reopening schools (safety of this is obv another debate) is because children's mental and physical health has suffered. Schools are not just places of education, but also places where children develop socially, learn how to coexist with others... and it's an efficient way to keep up with health initiatives like vaccinations, reception eye tests etc. These are NOT administered by the class teacher. Nor are weight and measure tests - a team come in from the local NHS just like they do to give your child the polio booster in Y10.

Well, my sister got her eating disorder, well before Youtube, and phones etc! I accept her account of how she fell down that rabbit hole, but then, I know my sister, and my mother, and how very credible that is. It was the tipping point factor, I think.

Girls (and to a lesser extent, but rising) and boys are, as you point out, under even greater social pressure and scrutiny these days.

I'm not saying that eating disorders would be caused by one weigh in at school. But it could be the tipping point, as you point out, with a combination of other factors - and if not done privately and sensitively, part of that could be resultant bullying.

And just because girls (and boys) have always been involved in some kind of widespread self harm, that doesn't mean to say you should be aware of, and attempt to mitigate potential contributing causes.

I think it's really important. Most parents of overweight children have no idea that their children are overweight (hence the Daily Mail sad face stories when they get 'the letter' to tell them their DC are overweight in reception / yr 6). Everyone is in complete denial.

Yes it is one in ten at reception. The health cost of early obesity is enormous - diabetes, cardiovascular disease, 13 different cancers, multiple sclerosis....the list is extensive.

Thank you AllThatOtherStuffToo, good to know, and apologise for the misinformation. Given other information that seems to sometimes get bellowed, and bandied about, that was my gut concern and reaction, and I appreciate you putting me straight.

They're often so busy protesting and bringing up eating disorders etc, that they don't actually make time to look into how the kids are weighed and how the parents are informed of the results

If these outlier kids who apparently are all a healthy weight are actually included in the results then the ranges will ultimately be altered to to accommodate these kids within the appropriate range of normal wont they?

So what are people afraid of? Clothes sizing and range brackets won't change to fit the lods of today if the lods of today aren't allowed to participate

I'm a bit bemused about the not having time to cook thing as well. I don't like cooking and am frequently short of time, so only "cook" properly a few times a week. Otherwise, easy meals here are leftover jacket potatoes with baked beans and a little bit of grated cheese, peanut butter toast, scrambled eggs or omelette with mushrooms and tomatoes, shop bought noodles or couscous, shop bought fishcakes or (if feeling really lazy) cold sliced chicken or ham. It only takes a few minutes to boil some freezer vegetables or tinned sweetcorn to go with it, even if they don't actually "go" with the meal, just to ensure we're hitting at least 5 a day. Fish fingers are also fine with vegetables and boiled potatoes so long as you don't eat too many. All of these aren't very exciting but take under 15 mins to prepare.

The school's involvement with my children is with their education, that is their responsibility and duty of care

But that's simply not true. Schools duty of care extends waaay beyond teaching them to read and write.

I don't think there's anything wrong with weighing children in school, so long as it's done in a way that doesn't cause embarrassment for the child. Should be 1-1 in a room not in front of the class (once they're a bit older, I can't see that reception children would much care). So many parents either can't see that their child is overweight, hopefully a polite factual note sent home might help.

I weigh mine at home anyway. Not regularly, every few months maybe, with no fuss or fanfare. I noticed that my four year old was looking a bit chubbier than normal and when I weighed her she was right near the top of her healthy weight for her age and height. Knowing this meant I took more notice of snacks etc and I switched her milk from whole to semi. It hadn't occurred to switch it before, and as I've still got a 1 year old on whole milk I just gave the 4 year old the same. She's back to 'normal' now. It doesn't take much.

It's our responsibility as parents to keep our children healthy and that starts with what we feed them.

Focus also needs to be on keeping our children active. Encouraging enthusiasm for PE/Games instead of sending notes to get out of it for no reason. Being active at home - It doesn't need to be expensive, or organised sport of that's out of people's reach. Any (able) child can run around a playing field!

Anything could be the 'tipping point', including being the only child in the class whose parents won't let them be weighed.

But perhaps one of the biggest causes of EDs might be parents allowing their kids to become overweight in the first place?

By the time they reach their teenage years they may well have been bullied for years about being fat.

So I don't understand it when parents of overweight children keep bring up EDs when it comes to their children losing weight, when they weren't quite as bothered during the time they were gaining weight.

One of the things I'm so proud of, with my younger, is that she has used lockdown to complete C25K, completely off her own bat. This is amazing, given how resistant she was to running, before that! As she put it, 'yes Mum, I really am that bored. . .'

And just because girls (and boys) have always been involved in some kind of widespread self harm, that doesn't mean to say you should be aware of, and attempt to mitigate potential contributing causes

And being unable to run around an play normally wouldn't do that? Having to special order in a school uniform wouldn't do that? But somehow being health checked at school would?

Sorry bit honestly that sounds like passing the blame tbh

One in 10 are overweight before they step into the classroom so damage of disordered eating already underway

Agree @WorraLiberty

Well, my sister was not overweight in the first place. People who get eating disorders, aren't necessarily overweight in the first place. Witness how prevalent they are in ballet and gymnastics. . .

and look what's coming out about the world of gymnastics.

Abuse physical mental and sexual.

So again probably nothing to do with being weighed in reception