To think the 'your child is in the overweight category' letters from the child measurement program are a waste of money?

[Readytomakechanges]

I've had a few friends receive these letters recently and the reaction is broadly the same:
"What a load of bollocks"
"He/she is always moving"
"There's not an ounce of fat on him/her"
I was prompted to start this thread as a friend has recently posted a pic of her DC's letter on Facebook. Cue many comments along the lines of the above statements.
My AIBU is, what's the point spending the money to print and post these letters when most (in my admittedly limited experience as perhaps those that do act on it are less outspoken) parents declare them nonsense anyway.
Would it be better to save the money and spend it on better physical education in schools or something?

bone density?

*shocking

How do you know it's a waste of money - there may well be plenty of people who respond positively to the letter, seek help and advice...they just don't come on mn or go on Facebook and tell everyone about it.

There's nothing to stop you giving your child a packed lunch.

So we do nothing?

I look at my children's school photos (they are only in their 20s) and I look at school photos of my nieces and nephews who are primary age (6 -10). The difference is remarkable.

Every time this topic comes up on MN there is argument about measurements, and anecdotes about "my DC got an obese letter and they're definitely not". It doesn't change the fact that our (wider society our) kids are getting fatter - unhealthily and dangerously fatter. Eating too much of the wrong stuff and not moving enough. Do we just keep making excuses and do nothing?

There's nothing to stop you giving your child a packed lunch.

That's not the point, the school can't be sending letters about healthy weight but serve mainly junk food to the kids. It's even worst in secondary where they have vending machines offering snacks! What's that all about.

(as a side, I am also amazed that no-one measure a baby when he is born in this country, or at least in my county.)

The school are not sending out the letters, it's just via the school, 'cos that's where the kids are.

I opted out as I knew it would say my dc were underweight.

The letters are addressed to the parents only. It's not being announced in assembley or anything.

The point is that some parents will take on board the information they receive and act on it.

Some however, just don't care. Or they think the school is wrong. Or they just can't be arsed.

My oldest was overweight as a child, I only realise I was looking at her through blinkered eyes by looking back at her primary school photos. She was short for her age but chubby. She's now an adult and the same height as me but still overweight although doing a hell of a lot more exercise now than she has done over the last three years which is when she seriously put on weight.

DD2 is a stick. She is very athletic in build and she swims twice a week as well as a whole load of other sports. At her swimming lessons are children who are seriously obese. And I don't think the parents even see it. And I'm not being judgy, I have admitted I couldn't see it in my own child.

Maybe a letter is all that's needed to get them to realise that wearing clothes sizes 4 sizes bigger than their age is not normal (unless they are very tall).

I'm expecting one of these letters home any day - they weighed DS even though I opted out.

DS is built like a rugby player - very wide shoulders (almost twice the width of some of the other boys in his class) and very muscular legs. He does a lot of sport, is extremely active and has a good diet. But height to weight ratio shows him as overweight.

We spoke about his weight with our family GP (he was weighed before an operation last year) and he said there were absolutely no concerns about his weight - he's just built big.

However, if he was overweight from over eating and lack of exercise and I got a letter home it might make me think about it.

the sad thing is that wearing trousers from your own age group means the kid is probably overweight. The waists are huge, and my own kids are not even skinny

I don't think parents should be able to opt-out. A child's right to the best possible chance for health should trump parental rights.

DD gets weighed and measured every year at the child health clinic, as does every other child in my country. When she's at school she'll have yearly check ups with the school doctor. These are good things, I'm lucky that there are professionals keeping an eye on the health and development of my child and all the rest so as to spot issues before they get complex and difficult to manage.

I'm not showing off, I'm massively overweight, it's bg way of an example.

My son is 4'5" and 6 so pretty tall. I noticed his shorts were pretty faded when I was ironing them and I thought I'd check how long we'd had them. They were age 2 -3 board type shorts.

So he's really tall but no visible far on waist tummy or bum.

Modern clothes aren't helping. If I put in a supermarket 6 to 7 he needs a belt to hold up trousers.

It's such a massive issue and I worry about how it will play out.

I don't have a problem with the letters, but I have a massive problem with the accompanying advice. Low fat yoghurts and margerine wtf! I was concerned about one of my child's weight as she is definitely plump, but according to the NHS guidelines she is within (upper end) of healthy limits so I find it hard to believe that all these kids coming home with letter ' have no fat on them'

I agree they are a waste of money: the prevalence of diabetes is reaching 30 percent and the message isn't being received.
This is a health issue and. Itching to do with looks.
Our children are all going to have high blood pressure, diabetes, liver issues and higher rates of cancer if they don't lose weight.

I know part of the reason is to reduce the risk of diabetes in adulthood. Children who are overweight or obese, even if they don't look it, are much more likely to get diabetes as adults. A school letter means more formality means parents should be more likely to listen. If it doesn't work then maybe a return to the old school public namings and shamings where kids would be weighed in front of each other would?

My dc's ribs are visible, and they are quite skinny. I worry that they're too skinny, but they're probably normal. I find it very difficult to know what they're supposed to look like. Every body is so different.

There was this great Sweedish study which proved that people who thought they were overweight as teenagers ended up actually being overweight as adults.

To be honest, stop giving them shit sugary food at lunch, give them PE four times a week and encourage them to walk to school. That's worth a lot more than a letter.

Basically, treating all kids the same, as people who need to be healthy, rather than just making the bigger ones panic is way more sensible.

I'm sick of weight being used as a metric for health. Why aren't we looking at diet and lifestyle? I don't care what my daughter weighs. I care about what she eats, and how much exercise she gets. I care that she's happy, healthy, and relaxed about her body. I try not to weigh myself in front of her, and I try to remain impartial about the number on the scales. It's so easy for governments to put it down to reducing numbers on bits of paper, but to improve health, we need funding into more sports equipment, and easier access to healthy food. A healthy diet is far more expensive than an unhealthy one, a large number of people are living on the breadline, and many people are working more than one job. There are bigger issues here than just 'parents won't admit how fat their kids are'.

Oh, and I do eat healthily, work out regularly, and am extremely slim. I also have spent most of my life one step away from an eating disorder, and am fed up with the judgement surrounding weight. What, so someone with a shit diet who doesn't exercise, but remains a normal weight is somehow healthier than someone with a shit diet and an overweight bmi? It's all bollocks.

I'm sick of weight being used as a metric for health. Why aren't we looking at diet and lifestyle? I don't care what my daughter weighs. I care about what she eats, and how much exercise she gets

Weight IS an intrinsic metric for health. If your diet and lifestyle are good, you will weigh somewhere in the healthy range. You do need to care about what your kid weighs...what she eats and how much exercise she gets will show in her weight. How else will you know if she is eating the right amount and exercising the right amount?

It's ridiculous to suggest that your weight doesn't matter. It's not bollocks.

natsku how patronising. What if you are scientifically literate and know perfectly well that constant weighing is far from the best method to achieve life long health?

Areyoufree

You have contradicting views, because you can't be fat on a healthy diet. If you are overeating, it's by definition not healthy. The weight is a huge factor, especially in children.

But you are right, kids need to be able to exercise more, and the unhealthy food served at school is outrageous, the recommendation to eat unhealthy "low fat" food is a joke, and let's not go into the "lunch box police" who has the most ridiculous rules.

"the school can't be sending letters about healthy weight but serve mainly junk food to the kids"

The school has nothing whatsoever to do with the letters. The measuring (which has been going on in one form or another since the 1940s) is done by the NHS and simply hosted in schools because it's conventions.

If your diet and lifestyle are good, you will weigh somewhere in the healthy range

Maybe, but a healthy weight does not always mean a good diet and lifestyle. We are essentially ignoring the health of all children that fall within a prescribed weight range. I just think this is just a cheap way for the government to look like they are doing something, without actually having to look at the underlying socioeconomic issues.