To think its unnecessary to send child measurements out to everyone

[needsomesunshine]

I posted about my ds obsessing over his child measurement results that were done in school.The result letter was posted out to all parents & he got to the post before me. A couple of posters have insinuated it's my fault for letting him see the letter & I feel crap now. It has clearly revealed some issues he has with his body image & the results said he is 76th percentile which is healthy. The booklet that comes with it is meant to be child friendly but still made him think we are not healthy enough which isn't true.
Was I unreasonable to discuss it with him or are they unreasonable to send these out to parents with healthy children?

Forgive my ignorance (our children are babies really), why are they measuring children at school and at what point do they decide there is a problem? Is it done by the school nurse?

LittlePicnic it's called The National Child Measurement Programme

Link here

I let them take part as I know they are a healthy height/weight for their ages so didn't think it would cause any issues.
I know better now.

Thanks for the link Worra. Some interesting comments on there as well. Like people said I naively didn't think it would cause issues especially as he came out as healthy. They make it sound like its for the greater good. It's interesting how some areas automatically send out letters & others don't. Some children were told at school that they were overweight. That is terrible.

Just like 'Married In white' my daughter also developed early, Periods started 2weeks before her 10th birthday, was 5'8'' at 14 and suffered being the tallest , fattest in the year at school, except she was a healthy size 12. By 16 she was barely 6stone, GP's 'answer was ' healthy diet sheets '. We too were fortunately able to afford private help (thank god). It was a long and painfull journey for the whole family,and not one i would wish on my worst enemy. Now 26 she is happy,healthy and size 10, Children develope at different times and rates, and putting pressure on such young children is so wrong.

See I think that's part of the problem...parents only allowing their kids to be weighed and measured because they think they're within the healthy range.

The idea of the programme is so the government can find out how many kids are of an unhealthy weight.

They need to predict which services will be most needed in the future and how much it's going to cost etc.

They also want to be able to 'catch' kids who are probably on their way to being obese...and advise the parents before it gets any worse.

The programme seems to have had rather mixed reactions from parents but I think overall it's a very good thing. The only alternative would be for the Government to hide their heads in the sand and continue to do nothing about the obesity epidemic.

However, the letters should be posted to the parents and the people doing the weighing and measuring should not be discussing anything with the kids.

WorraLiberty I think the problem is the manner in which the exercise is carried out and the fact that the children are told the results and then discuss them with their friends. There is also a huge problem from the point of view that that no consideration is given to development at the age of 10/11 which is hugely variable. Our dd barely had an ounce of "fat" on her when she came out just over the obese line. No tummy, no rolls, tiny face. She does however have the broad shoulders and sturdy build of her Germanic antecedents and there is no allowance for that at all; just as there is no allowance for a very early puberty which she also had. At 14 she is 5'4" and 8st 3lb. At 10 she was 5' and 8st 7lb - she had also started her periods.

The result which I have posted above was potentially horrific and if, as a family, we hadn't picked it up and ensured she got the help she needed, she could now be in a very bad, embedded anorexic place.

This is an exercise that needs to be carried out at GP surgeries with back up consultations with dieticians/practice nurse if it is to be successful, informative and helpful. It is wholly inappropriate for it to be delivered via schools. It is also wholly inappropriate that it is delivered in way that is mandatory unless parents opt their children out of it - the only reason we didn't opt dd out of it was because she is a sensitive child and didn't want to be the one that wasn't included.

Well this is the thing you see.

None of the children should be told the results by the people weighing and measuring them...there should be no discussion whatsoever and the letters should be sent to the parents.

The booklet does explain that it's not an exact science and that children will sometimes come up as obese when they're not and vice versa.

My 11yr old DS came up as within the healthy range and yet he'd developed a belly that was noticeably too large. Despite the letter saying he was fine, my DH and I decided to get him out swimming, running around and bought him a trampoline. Within a couple of months he was noticeably leaner and his large belly had disappeared.

So whilst it's not an exact science, I think it still does more good than harm overall.

I agree it should be done at the Doctor's surgery but sadly I think too many parents wouldn't bother making appointments.

So you have got your DC's results already. DS (Y6) was weighed a while ago, but we haven't had the results. He wasn't told anything at the time and I want to make sure he doesn't get to them before me, for fear of the above as he is probably around the 70th centile and is "hench" and very body-conscious, and I don't want him to get all funny about eating.

When DD's arrived, I just saw the government health logo and thought it was an advert for something and chucked them away, so I will never know what she was assessed as