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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think nhs school height / weight check is useless

319 replies

Ellieboolou27 · 21/01/2017 08:17

Dd is 4.5 she's 3ft 7" and weighs 3st 9lb

The school did the height and weight check a few weeks ago and have sent a letter saying she is very overweight and they would like me to come in to discuss healthy eating.

I'm really shocked as dd is far from being very overweight
She does tap, swimming and multi sports weekly, as a family we eat normal family meals, she wears size 5-6 clothes, 6-7 in some shops like primark where they come up small.

She's certainly not skinny, but most certainly not very overweight!

I think this bmi checker is shit, according to the NHS online bmi checker my dh is obese, he is 6ft 2" and weighs 16st but is an ex body builder so is a big guy with not an ounce of fat on him.

Feeling awful Sad

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Cherryskypie · 22/01/2017 13:13

I used to do that as a child now I make sure noone's looking

Natsku · 22/01/2017 13:16

Me too Cherry!

MiaowTheCat · 22/01/2017 13:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

dontbesillyhenry · 22/01/2017 13:33

Natsku- but butter 😍😍😍

lizb30 · 22/01/2017 13:42

I have often wondered how people can't tell if their child is overweight, especially if they're close to or in the obese category.
My eldest (son 13) has always been skinny. He's always needed clothes a year or two below his age too. He's always been at the lower end of a healthy weight, never under weight. Just before last summer for the first time in his life he seemed to gain a lot of weight. I don't weigh him so can't give figured. He went from really slim to quite chunky for him.
He had a hospital appointment in October for something and was weighed and measured. I mentioned to the nurse that he's gained a lot of weight from looking at him. She worked out his bmi and he was smack on mid range in the healthy range. Still more than he's ever been but we'll below the over weight category.
This is why I wonder how people can't tell. I was genuinely expecting to be told he'd crept into the over weight category.

He's grown in hight since then and is slimmer again. But it is so obvious when they're carrying an extra load.
I have friends who's children are clearly obese but they'll deny it until their blue in the face. It's a shame. Better to put thing in place while they're young so it doesn't go into adulthood with them.

Natsku · 22/01/2017 13:47

Really want some butter now!

I think a lot of parents don't realise just how active children need to be - below 8 years old they need to be running around etc. (enough to get red faced and out of breath) three hours every day, its quite hard to fit that in every day if they're at nursery/school during the day.

lizb30 · 22/01/2017 13:48

Apologies for the spelling, my phone likes to change my words and mn likes to deny me the right to edit! Lol.

Original poster
Ellieboolou27 · 22/01/2017 13:50

To be fair last night I was really low, today I feel better knowing that I can and will be changing our attitude towards food. She's at the party having a great time, funny enough she's not making a grab for the seeets table as she's busy running around

OP posts:
OddBoots · 22/01/2017 13:51

Ellieboolou27 - you sound like a brilliant mum, very thoughtful and reflective.

Cherryskypie · 22/01/2017 14:06

It's so easy to not see. You''ve proven the point by your comment lizb30

'I was genuinely expecting to be told he'd crept into the over weight category.'

You saw your son as overweight when he was healthy. As you've said, you don't weigh him. He could well have been underweight for a while but your eye was used to it and saw it as normal.

Introvertedbuthappy · 22/01/2017 14:13

Ellie as she's active anyway it will be easy to adjust her portion sizes without anyone noticing. Good luck Flowers

Cherryskypie · 22/01/2017 14:16

She'll soon be back on track. The reason they brought in the checks is that it's easy to miss or to see it as just 'how they are.'

bookeatingboy · 22/01/2017 14:24

My dts's (8) YR4 are the tallest in their respective classes. One of them is 5ft tall, other one 4.9ft and they both come up well within the ideal weight range on the NHS BMI check, so all those saying it's skewed for tall children are talking rubbish.

bruffin · 22/01/2017 14:29

agree bookeatingboy
my ds is 21 but always on 90th centile for height. He was also broad chested but was never overweight

Ferrisday · 22/01/2017 14:52

Has anyone actually played around with this tool?
It's not perfect

A tall 6 year old with same measurements as a 8 year old gets a different result.

As do girls and boys with same measurements.

There can also be just 1-2 pounds between categories.

bruffin · 22/01/2017 15:04

ferris
thats good, boys are different from boys, a 6 year old is not the same as a 8 yr old developmentally.

bruffin · 22/01/2017 15:05

oops
boys are different from girls

lovelearning · 22/01/2017 15:58

Has anyone actually played around with this tool?
It's not perfect

Ferrisday, it has been proven conclusively that BMI is inaccurate.

“Our study should be the final nail in the coffin for BMI." thescienceexplorer.com/brain-and-body/bmi-inaccurate-mislabels-54-million-obese-or-overweight-people-unhealthy

To find out whether your child is a healthy weight, use the waist/height ratio. www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/waist-height-ratio-is-best-test-of-obesity-7737801.html

Natsku, your daughter is a healthy weight. Let her eat butter. Unsalted, of course. Wink

Catlady1976 · 22/01/2017 16:01

My older two dds are definitely overweight. I know this. They were fine when measured in reception but it crept up during their primary years.
Yes I do blame school dinners. The serving sizes are small but the older kids are offered seconds all the time.

Catlady1976 · 22/01/2017 16:02

I am working on it by upping their exercise and trying to cut back in snacking.
It does get harder though the older they get.

HopeClearwater · 22/01/2017 16:03

I've opted out of the screening for DD1

Well done. The screening programme is so that the NHS can get a clear picture of what our kids' measurements are these days. You've decided to help skew this because your kid is a bit fat and you know it. Given that it seems loads of the parents excusing their child from the screening have fat kids, the sizes of kids at 11 are probably officially even larger than the recorder statistics.

Ab1000 · 22/01/2017 16:21

I refused to have dd weighed in reception As I didn't want her to life to be overtaken with weight issues As mine had been. When she had the year 6 review my dh and various others talked me into it. She was classed as obese and the school nurse told her this when she was being weighed. We were referred to our gp and I made minor changes to our diet. She lost a bit of weight but she then went to secondary school and weight loss became an obsession. She is now far too thin and We are now back at the gp and being referred to an eating disorder clinic. I think it is dreadful to label children in this way.

harderandharder2breathe · 22/01/2017 16:29

But Ab if you'd been told she was obese earlier then you would've had time to fix it before high school and teen girl diet craziness. To me this is another example of why infant school children need to be measured

harderandharder2breathe · 22/01/2017 16:30

Although I agree the nurse shouldn't have told your DD she was obese, that's really not acceptable! Info should go to parents only

Ab1000 · 22/01/2017 16:33

She was classed as being obese but in reality was slightly over weight and no I'm not in denial. The gp told us that she was only just into the obese category.

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