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?

Why don't those Parents opt out of having their child weighed/measured? It's a request not a summons (to quote mn )

I hope they don't opt out.

Indeed I hope no-one opts out.

Because these measurements (which NHS has been doing in schools since the 1940s) give health planners very valuable data about the population. It led to interventions (such as free cod liver oil, orange juice and milk in schools) when malnutrition and underweight was a widespread issue. And showed when things had changed and they could be phased out.

Currently it's showing how prevalent being overweight is in 4/5 yos and 10/11 yos.

It's only since the 00s that parents have been informed about their individual DC's measurements. And the letters do not seem to have made much difference.

These measurements, btw, are one of the data sets against which the child weight/height centile charts are periodically revalorised.

Exactly, opting out skews the results which makes the data wrong which is not good for research and possible preventative health measures that could be implemented in the data is correct (like increasing exercise in school, encouraging more sports and exercise clubs, changing the school meals to be healthier - getting rid of puddings would be a good start!)

Do you only get a letter if they are over or under weight, or does everyone get one?

I don't know Electra we got a letter for dd1 stating her weight was in the normal range. We don't seem to have got one yet this time round as yet though so maybe it's changed. We haven't had letters without results of hearing and sight check either so maybe now they don't send them to everyone.

My twins were measured in Nov. Just received two letters. One is off the centiles underweight and one average. Both got a booklet.

My daughters yr 6 letter was addressed to her and she opened it. Only to be told that she is fat. I can't see how the council could think that putting her name on the front was a good idea, especially as the letter inside it was addressed to me and my husband. So cross about it. And she's only 3-4 kg over ideal. Thanks council, for instilling a complex for life

I got a letter for ds1 (Reception) just stating his weight and height and directing me to the NHS website if I wanted to calculate his bmi.

DS got a letter stating his percentile. Even though he was said to be "healthy" weight (when I could see he was clearly pudgy... just not very pudgy). May depend on local policies.

Poots it's clearly wrong for it to be addressed to her, but i doubt if it used the word "fat".
Furthermore if a 10 or 11 year old girl is 4kg overweight there is clearly a weight problem which needs addressing before it becomes a lifelong issue. Saying it will cause her a complex is all to do with how you address it.

Yes 4kg/8llbs about the top of the acceptable BMI bracket is a lot of extra weight for a child to be carrying. Unfortunate that she opened it but now's the chance for her NOT to have issues or a complex in later life. Seems like a good side of the letters to me.

My primary aged dc ribs are visable from front & back, hip bones poke through, & abs clearly defined, solid muscle definition everywhere. They are classed are overweight. They are very tall for their age, wear 3 yrs older clothing for height, allways dresses/tunics & leggings I take in before they stay up.

Wobbly, what are you saying?

That bmi isn't necessarily everything. My kids have all the signs of being healthy weight, ribs visible, ab muscle definition, yet they are classed as overweight. Doesn't make sense imo, & our multipul hcp-asd &adhd- that they could be 'over weight'.

Being overtall for their age is a warning sign for obesity though, unless both parents are particularly tall compared to the average.

Yes we are tall. And healthy weights, both well muscled build. I stopped growing young, was 5'10 by the time I was 13. My kids take after me.

Then you are the rare outliers. There are always going to be outliers but for the vast majority, BMI works.

They are an absolute joke.

I had one through telling me DD (tall slim swimmer) was overweight. I was mortified and called the number straight away. The poor woman on the other side of the phone hadn't a clue and told me not to worry as BMI wasn't necessarily accurate. I pushed her and said it mattered I wanted to do something about it if she was but I needed to know first as I wouldn't have dreamed of thinking she was. And she was absolutely insistent that most likely the letter was wrong and not to worry.

So I was left wondering what on earth was the point.

Natsku can you link to the info on being overtall for age and obesity. My daughter who is 2 is very tall for her age, I am above average height, husband is average. I am very conscious about her diet/weight/activity as I have battled my weight all my life so do as much as I can to not pass on my issues and give her a good start.

She has been on the 98th centile for length/height since she was born so I can't see how this can be down to feeding - was BF for first year so wasn't forcing in xxx amount of formula as that is what it said on the tin!

She has just had her 2 year check and she is 98th for height and just above 75th for weight which I was happy with but your comment has now worried me even more so some research to back it up would be appreciated.

I opted out with my twiglet son. He's on the lower end of normal and tbh I don't agree with it.

On my phone so can't link but I think it was linked earlier in the thread. The fact that she's a good bit lower down the percentile lines for weight compared to height should be a good sign that she's not headed to being overweight. Would be more concerning if she was in proportion while overtall.

Not sure where all the outrage about lack of exercise comes from....kids are out playing all the time where I am.

My DD (5 yo) does trampolining twice a week, swimming once a week (but for 2 hours) spends two days a week going on walks in forests/hills, goes for long bike rides twice a week, plays badminton once a week and plays yoga/gymnastics for at least an hour a day. She also goes horse riding but I'm less clear if that is particularly hard work.

She's still a bit chubby because some kids are at that age, and she is just losing her baby fat slowly year on year. I'm pretty sure she is fit and healthy though.

Morphene, plenty of children do not live within easy reach of any forests or hills. Or in places where it is safe for them to play out unsupervised, let alone ride a bike. We do live near a park where I took mine regularly, but horse riding would have been way beyond us, though dd really wanted to do it.

cory of course, and I know how privileged we are. I just don't think its all about too much screen time, or not playing out much.

Most children live within easy reach of somewhere to go for a family walk. Hardly anyone takes their children for walks regularly, everyone always tells me the DC 'won't walk' and that they have to take a scooter. When we go across fields on public footpaths round here you rarely see any DC at all. Walking is free and a good habit to get into for life. We do up to 5 or 6 miles with a 7yo and 5yo. More commonly we do 2 or 3.