to not want my child weighed

[moogster1a]

My ds has received a leaflet about the weighing of reception age kids in order to ascertain just how many Greggs sausage rolls are eaten in the neighbourhood. ( healthy child programme)
I didn't object too much to this although I think it's a huge waste of money and time as fat kids' parents will get a letter telling them their kid is fat and I fail to see where they will go from there. but, thats by the by.
the consent form states " If you do not return a completed consent form your child's vision and hearing will not be checked but we will still weigh and measure your child".
Does this mean there is no opt out?
Do all schools do this? It's getting me more and more annoyed that we are living in such a nany state. I would rather schools cocentrated on teaching my child how to read ad write rather than attempting to do the full pareting job icludig deciding how fat he can be. ( by the way, he's a skiny runt so I'm ot objecting because I think we'll be haued in frot of the lard police and told to empty our cupboards of everything but rye bread).
in fact, I lied earlier, I do object in principle to the whole scheme. What a waste of money.

Addressbook: do you have any insights into why the NHS did move to the 2007 system when (as the BMJ linked I posted says) there was a paucity of evidence? I mean, the seniors must have been convinced of its merits, or was it a political decision? It would be a great pity if the population-wide monitoring were undermined because of the adding of screening.

Its not carried out as blind screening though is it?

At least it isnt here - its part of their health checks at school.

If its blind screening for mass information, thats different about contact. If its specific check ups on each child, fair dos. Ive always viewed it as a continuation of the HV checks in a way.

Forgive me for being too tired to scroll - did someone actually contact you on a number which was only held by the school as an emergency contact, or are we being hypothetical here?

Apologies - I see from Edith I have the terms wrong (not an HCP)

Was the monitoring a mass information thing and now its screening its individualised?

I believe we're being hypothetical about the contact number. But then I hope I wouldn't receive a call like that - it is the sort of thing that should be in writing so that an appropriate response can be formularised rather than an istinctive reaction.

When your child starts Reception you are asked to fill in a form for School Health - it's often a questionnaire with child's details and family contact details to be filled in along with health data such as allergies, health issues, previous illnesses and surgeries, etc.

This info is collated by the school health team and stored on whatever database they use. There are huge lists of which children are at which schools. But yes, staff rely on the teachers and the children themselves to tell them their names.

I think (don't know, just think) it is political. The government want some positive statistics to use for spin. They need to be seen to be doing something to help the nation's health. But it doesn't address the real deeper issues.

It was the same with teenage pregnancy. Reducing the numbers by such a date etc. When in fact, as I argued in my dissertation, they may have been better focusing on providing support and services for very young mothers. To break the cycle of deprivation. I controversially argued that teenage pregnancy in itself is not a negative outcome. It is the social exclusion that can follow.

We haven't filled one in yet. We'd better be careful what information we put on it by the sounds of it...

Sidge - how does the programme hope to reach the children who aren't attending school? Or whose parent's can't read or write? Or travelling families and ethnic minorities?

pseudo Im relieved to hear that, if you gave a number for emergencies only and its being passed round by the school, you should be furious.

But I can promise you that I know from my own work that a phone call or even better a face to face conversation is a much better way to get people to engage with a programme than a letter. Which is why they are used.

Slight change of topic - there is a news story doing the rounds jsut now about a family in Dundee who are alleging they are having four of their children adopted against their wishes with no future contact because they are overweight.

Phonecalls can cause disengagement when you do shift work. To the point anyone who rings for a non-emergency is likely to not ever want to ring again....

Agreed - DH used to do shifts and if I forgot to unplug the phone, he would happily have garroted anyone who woke him - at that moment.

If it had been something that might have been important for the kids in the long run, however..........

I don't know current practice addressbook, I'm not school nursing any more.

But when I was, there was a specialist HV who worked with travelling families, extending her remit from preschoolers to all children within those families.

Home schooled children were a tricky one as they fall in the grey area of school health - we relied on EWOs (who we met regularly with) to liaise with those families and offer our services, and many did take up the HPV vaccine programme. Children not in school by virtue of being excluded were also under the EWOs umbrella (and some through the looked after child/child protection umbrella) so were linked in that way.

I'm not aware of many illiterate parents but IME I found schools very supportive and would arrange meetings between ourselves and parents that we couldn't contact by phone or letter.

I'm very aware that the service is not perfect, and is grossly understaffed. It's also crippled (certainly where I was) by paperwork and data capture. The area I worked in was one of the most deprived in Hampshire, and I still feel that screening was valuable despite the pressures and pitfalls.

Soemthing that can help in the long run can be dealt with by letter or email. As it happens, with modern technology, the landline gets unplugged and the mobile will only ring if the school or OH rings. So no school nurses harrassing me in my sleep! (Unless they use the school's phone!)

I think you sound like you are doing a great job sidge. Thanks for that information, it has actually given me hope that good is being done in the profession

Honestly, so many people dont or wont respond to letters though, or email if they have it, even when its about their children.

I hope you sleep very well and that the mobile never has to ring.

I will always respond to a letter / email. Perhaps these forms could allow people to state their communication preferences? I just feel that with a phonecall, you are put on the spot and would not have the opportunity to give a considered response that you can with a letter or email. A phonecall would also make me think that the hcp is trying to catch me out, as I am a naturally suspicious person (in case you hadn't realised!).

Thanks addressbook, I moved back to practice nursing a couple of years ago (ironically I couldn't bear all the meetings and paperwork and lack of direct contact in my SN job!) but I know my old colleagues are still doing the best they can. It's a losing battle though - we had 6 nurses and 3 HCSWs covering about 70 schools.

Its a shame, I think that the people like us who would and do respond to letters end up "suffering" because of the minority who wouldnt. Its a recurring theme.

I even know of cases where the school has purchased a mobile and credit for families because they are impossible to reach by any method - and guess what, the phones get stolen or broken within days.

Oh, and btw, for the poster who mentioned the Spine - you won't be able to pull any of my information of off that. Apart from DoB, name and NHS number ,that is.

Sidge has articulated the views that I have nicely.

Sure Start centres do offer cookery classes for those parents who feel it will benefit them in my local area.

All HV records are forwarded to school health and each school has an allocated nurse. There will be a list of where children go to school. Some independent schools do not enter the CHPP either. Sometimes the HV will contact the local pre-schools to find out where children are moving to. Most children do attend a setting and receive the free funding. This is especially the case when SS are involved.

In my area there is a specific link HV for travelling families so they also offer support for older children in this case.

Many excluded pupils are educated in pupil referral units which are covered by the team geographically.

The phone call would not be dictatorial, simply an offer of support if it is wanted. I.e. asking if parents are claiming all benefit entitlements and suggesting which may be possible. Some parents don't realize they are eligable for free school meals. Sometimes the local authority will provide funding for before school/ activities after school for families who cannot afford it. Healthy Start vouchers are often missed by families.

Children are not told their height or weight so the body image thing isn't really an issue. There is more issue with what they see daily at home i.e. mothers always complaining about their figure and dieting, comfort eating, magazines lying around with skinny models in them.

I don't know why someone suggested ss would be called for a thin child . The first point of reference would be to check health records to ensure there is no medical issue, secondly contact the parents to ask if they have any concerns regarding the childs eating habits and then gather any other relevant information from school i.e. does the child have school or packed lunch, is it reliable, is it eaten or is the child rushing out to play and leaving most of it? Not SS.

I would like to be able to contact parents via email and for them to contact me that way. It would save lots of phoning with no reply.

We don't have a health visotor, let alone them have lists of where children go to school! The only people who have a list like this would be the council when they were allocating school places. That would involve different agencies talking to each other and passing data without knowledge or consent. Not something they are likely to do, or even if they do do it, they are not likely to do it accurately!

As a parent, email would be my preference also, captain.

Psuedo how old are your dc?

May I ask for the reason of your question?