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.

Um, what's been coming out in gymnastics, is that frequent public weigh ins, with emotional and verbal abuse if they'd put on weight, was quite a big part of it.

Mine are already weighed - YR, Y2 possibly and Y6. I’ve got nothing against them being weighed, but I do take exception to the accompanying letters telling me that they are overweight for their age, without taking into account their height (much higher centile than their heights).

@mbosnz

Um, what's been coming out in gymnastics, is that frequent public weigh ins, with emotional and verbal abuse if they'd put on weight, was quite a big part of it.

But that is worlds apart from a discreet weigh in when all their class mates are too.

Are they verbally abusing the kids in school?

Its a letter the parents get and kids have no idea of

Anyways, possibly derailing the thread. Apologies for misapprehensions and leaping to conclusions about how it would be done, appreciate having been set straight, and more than happy to agree to disagree!

DD has visibly put weight on since lockdown. It's shit but there's little we can do about it. I've been bedridden a lot due to my hospital clinic being closed, so I didn't get my regular treatment, so I've been in constant pain & had intermittent paralysis. DH has had to do everything including the shopping - we live 2 miles from the supermarket, we have no car. He walks with a stick as his knees are buggered, some days they're so swollen he can't get his trousers on. We can't move nearer to town as we were previously homeless & lucky to get offered this HA house. We are waiting for formal diagnosis for autism for DD (8) but she's clearly on the spectrum. She's been a nightmare, gone backwards re toileting, won't do any school work as she misses school & her friends, tantrums lasting several hours, stopped eating properly, stopped speaking, keeps hiding. Scared to go out. We've asked school for help - nothing, as she's not yet formally diagnosed. She was just about manageable in normal times when we could walk her to burn the energy off.
We don't want to mention to DD that she's put weight on, although we have mentioned that eating too many sweets, crisps, junk food etc can make people fat if they don't do enough exercise. Firstly, I don't feel it's fair to make her feel responsible for it - she's only 8. It's down to us, & the shit situation we are in. Secondly, I started with ED when I was still in primary school & I don't want that to happen to her. (DH & I are overweight & we'd never shame anyone for it, & if you met me in RL you'd never know I'm a recovering ED sufferer. But it's massively destructive, like an addiction. I'm finding things particularly trying at present.)

Thank you AllThatOtherStuffToo, good to know, and apologise for the misinformation

You're welcome and sorry if I reacted a bit harshly!

There are various screenings/health checks/vaccines etc throughout school and they are all done in the same way. All child friendly, all confidential, all respectfully done.

That sounds like a shit situation @SisyphusAndTheRockOfUntidiness and there will be people who are trying their best in difficult circumstances but on the whole I think Brits just eat too much junk food and huge portion sizes. We went to McDonald's last week on the way home from holiday and they automatically gave us large meals. I remember when you could only get one size and now they give you large without even asking!

By the way, I do have to be careful what my dc eat, we're a family who love food so I try and keep the crap out of the house.

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.

Mine like playing on the scales.I take a surreptitious look at the numbers and note it down. No fanfare, not even a "thing". I occasionally also weight them specifically but for a given reason - most recently to check DS was within the weight limit for his car seat.

We measure their height every six months on the door frame. My parents and DHs parents did the same. It can be a fun, family tradition it doesn't need to be all serious and doom.

Um, what's been coming out in gymnastics, is that frequent public weigh ins, with emotional and verbal abuse if they'd put on weight, was quite a big part of it.

That's very specific though, isn't it? And it's not how schools are run.

Children who get upset or concerned are reassured. And I certainly won't be telling them it's got anything to do with 'lockdown weight' and neither would my colleagues. That would come from home.

I'm not sure why so many people think that educated professionals whose very raison d'être is children's welfare are completely clueless!

@BikeRunSki

Mine are already weighed - YR, Y2 possibly and Y6. I’ve got nothing against them being weighed, but I do take exception to the accompanying letters telling me that they are overweight for their age, without taking into account their height (much higher centile than their heights).

Height is taken into account when they measure in school.

I even saw someone say the other day that if a child was not 91st percentile for weight if they were 91st percentile for height, they were unhealthy.

That is complete rubbish.

You're welcome and sorry if I reacted a bit harshly!

No, not at all, I can understand why you did! My profuse apologies!

And the reason I bowed out, was because I was aware, that with the whole gymnastics/ballet thing, it was very much going off on a fairly irrelevant tangent!

Part of the issue seems to be how overweight children are portrayed... It's bad parenting. It's lazy parenting etc. People don't like to be seen as bad parents. But overfeeding often seems to be a sign of love... Buying that massive ice cream as you love them. Feeding them their favourite pizza for dinner. Popcorn at the cinema etc.

My DDs do a sport where we have to know their weight for equipment (and height). I don't think they know it though... Or if they do it's just a number. I don't know how it compares to other children in the group's (for one thing, the age range is massive- you have 5/6 year olds up to 11)

We noticed lockdown weight gain, so reduced portions slightly and watched snacks. One thing that did surprise me is pictures of the snack baskets on social media... They seemed massive. Mine might eat bigger meals though- it's hard to tell with these things!

Maybe we need more portion size information on food packets- U5s, 5-11, 12+. Not just wooly 'a portion is 5 smarties' in small letters.

@Saucery

We don’t have hearing and eyesight tested in school any more, do we? So why is weight the only thing checked? Is it because it’s a quick and easy way for the govt to look like they give a shit? DS’s height and weight were checked annually due to another health issue. I withdrew him from the YR and 6 checks, because they weren’t necessary.

This is a really useful comparison of why national screening schemes are useful as I had no idea my son needed glasses until he had a sight test in school in reception year!

Maybe we need more portion size information on food packets- U5s, 5-11, 12+. Not just wooly 'a portion is 5 smarties' in small letters

I do think packaging has a lot to answer for too.

For example if you bought a multipack of crisps its a small bag of 25 grams. Which is anout the size you probably want. But it looks small compared to the massive bags on the shelf but the massive bags are 2/3 full of air. So you associate big bags with "not getting very much " so then wont entertain the smaller bags . If that makes any sense.

Food has been doctored alot too. Everything far more oily or full of sweeteners etc and cheap fillers so you feel like you need more. If food was what it was meant to be it would probably fill you up a damn site more and not leave you hungry again an hour later.

But these changes are not labelled clearly.

Maybe we need more portion size information on food packets- U5s, 5-11, 12+. Not just wooly 'a portion is 5 smarties' in small letters

Portion sizes/serving suggestions are very often laughed at on MN though for being 'tiny'. "My kids could eat 3x that amount". "Is that supposed to be an adult portion or a snack?"

I've no objection to portion sizes being written in foot-high letters, but it's a tiny factor in a huge issue.

Things that contribute to this issue across Britain include:

• rising food prices
• food deserts
• lack of access to cooking skills and equipment
• longest working hours in Europe
• poor food standards in schools
• massive advertising and product placement, and cheap junk in shops
• culture based around drinking not eating
• big food corporations lobbying politicians

More shame piled on to us because on top of everything else, our kids are fat.

They did this at school all the time in the early 80s. The secondary school I was at had full medicals for pupils in the 1st year (would be year 7 now).

If you were overweight, you and your parents were told there and then by the nurse told to do something about it, given a diet sheet and you got on with it.

Possibly harsh, but I was overweight (ok very overweight) and we did something about it. It may sound nasty and I didn't like hearing it at 11 years old, but I'm glad I did, it was a kick up the arse to me and my parents and looking back, well needed.

Can we un vanity size kids clothing as well, please?
Its fab that its hot, because we can wear shorts. My 11 year old currently has age 7 shorts on. Trousers are a nightmare, as to get anything long enough involves loads of excess material round his waist and bum.
The 9 is old is slightly better. At least he fits in long trousers that are nearly age appropiate - so long as they have an adjustable waist.
Although I suspect people who wont do anything about an overweight child will just buy bigger and complain about how small everything is. I know I'd much rather hem some trousers that were too long than adjust the waist tho!

SisyphusAndTheRockOfUntidiness

That sounds like an incredibly difficult situation.

However, if it were only families in your position, it would be easy to target support and resources and it wouldnt be such a widespread public health issue.

But it's a problem that crosses all groups.

I live in an affluent area. One of my daughter's friends and her sibling are very overweight. Her parents are slim and fit and they eat good, real home cooked, high quality food. They feed the children processed crap 'kids' food and the snacks..!! So that's not lack of money or knowledge or understanding or time (he owns a successful business, she's a SAHM/lady who lunches and both chn are in secondary school), just a skewed view of what kids eat.

I think I said previously I've never bought a bag of chicken nuggets. I sometimes have a box of fish fingers and waffles in the freezer for convenience but I had to throw the last lot out because they were so old. If children aren't bought and fed crap, they don't develop a taste for it because they've never experienced it.

My mum felt my children were missing out because I didnt take them to McDonald's. Missing out? On what!

Food has been doctored alot too. Everything far more oily or full of sweeteners etc and cheap fillers so you feel like you need more. If food was what it was meant to be it would probably fill you up a damn site more and not leave you hungry again an hour later.

This with bells on.

The food 'industry' is a lot of the problem.

1 in 5 kids will leave school overweight, this is totally unacceptable.

Children will get fat from eating to excess or excess calories, as I child I had a very very limited diet as I was fussy but I didnt eat ten pizzas etc, I just ate what was needed and was skinny.

It is free to walk and run outside and go to a park.

@RedCatBlueCat

Can we un vanity size kids clothing as well, please? Its fab that its hot, because we can wear shorts. My 11 year old currently has age 7 shorts on. Trousers are a nightmare, as to get anything long enough involves loads of excess material round his waist and bum. The 9 is old is slightly better. At least he fits in long trousers that are nearly age appropiate - so long as they have an adjustable waist. Although I suspect people who wont do anything about an overweight child will just buy bigger and complain about how small everything is. I know I'd much rather hem some trousers that were too long than adjust the waist tho!

We have this problem too, my son is five, hes around the 97th percentile for height. Where shorts are concerned to get a waist that fits he needs an age 3, but he can’t wear these as it would look like he was wearing Kyle Minogue style hot pants!

Even trousers that have the little bits you can tighten with buttons are too big, hes very leggy as well so sticking to a younger age size makes him look likes hes expecting a flood. The only place I find leggings and trousers are La Redoute, Superdry and Scandi brands, but they’re more expsensive and harder to come by. A few small brands are good, rainbowsprinkles leggings fit him really well.

My mum felt my children were missing out because I didnt take them to McDonald's. Missing out? On what!

Wish we could also figure out what it was that made what were originally " eat what you are given or go hungry, stop snacking or you will spoil your appetite, I'm not buying processed crap, 10 pence worth was a monthly treat " parents turn into " im gonna buy massive ice creams, buy lots of sweets, non stop feeding crap for treats" grandparents.

If we could develope a cure....

They've got a bloody cheek. Ds1 has an eating disorder which is part of his adhd and pda. They (camhs) steadfastly refused to address any of his issues when he was growing up and he's obese now.

Nobody is actually serious about addressing the problems of obesity in this country. Weighing people does sod all. Shaming and nagging overweight people does sod all.