to be furious at this?

[noseywhatsit]

Just for background: My DD (10) is currently going through puberty, has had major growth spurts and is currently 8st 3Ibs and 5 foot.

A couple of month ago, her school had brought in a team to weigh the pupils and we didn’t receive feedback until a couple of weeks ago. In the letter they had sent home, they’d claimed that DD was overweight! I can very clearly see that she isn’t. This has made me feel really disgusted that they’re body shaming children! I have an older daughter who faced her own body issues during early teenage years and it was heartbreaking to see how it was affecting her emotionally and mentally. Am I wrong for thinking that they shouldn’t be throwing around claims like this when so many people, especially children and teens are dealing with eating disorders and mental health issues? I can’t help but think that they shouldn’t be throwing so much of the tax payers money into something like this when there’s so much more the NHS could do with that money, i.e. better mental health facilities for those who desperately need the medical intervention.

8st 3 and 5ft really doesn't tell us anything. She could be a body builder. She could be holding all that weight as a spare tyre around her middle. Or on the wrong BMI scale.

These posts crop up a fair bit. As pp have pointed out they sent it to you (as the person who can do something about her weight) not your DD so they haven't shamed her. And, yes, it does sound as though she is overweight. Rather than get defensive use it as an opportunity to make some healthy changes?

I don't understand either, that's not over weight for an adult. It's meaningless

They haven’t said obese or morbidly obese. They’ve said overweight. That means more than the optimal, healthy weight for a girl her age and height. Not so muc more that she’s obese. But enough more for her to be overweight.

The NHS doesn’t use those terms for children. Very overweight is as bad as it gets. Using the CDC definition, she is obese. They don’t have a category above that.

www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/defining.html

They seem to use age as well but dont know why it changes the result

Calling a 5ft tall 8stone3 10 year old a fatty is despicable.

The nhs don’t look at weight as a vanity issue and as such are not fat shaming children, they look at it as a health issue and being overweight increases the risk of a lot of diseases

Agree with people her weight and height doesnt tell you anything.

I don’t understand why a child of the same height and weight would be classified as very overweight.

Pardon me if I'm wrong, but isn't that because with children's BMI, age is something that's also taken into consideration due to the changing amount of body fat that should be in their bodies as they develop.

They seem to use age as well but dont know why it changes the result

Normal weight for children varies with age because the amount of fat they carry also changes with how old they are. Adults and children’s bodies are different. That’s the reason for the different bmi charts.

DS is definitely overweight. He's also extremely tall. So on 97 percentile for height and 99% for weight. But he's still overweight. We're working on it. Progress is being made and he's only 7 so it's a process.

But as long as they don't make a big deal of it to her, it's up to you to manage. And you received the letter, not her.

From the nhs bmi page:

Instead of using the BMI categories used for adults, a child’s BMI is given as a centile (or percentile). Because children are constantly growing until around the age of 18, their age and whether they are a boy or girl is alsoused to work out their BMI centile. A small change in weight or a few months difference in age can change the centile score

A child's BMI is expressed as a "centile" to show how their BMI compares to children who took part in national surveys.

For example, a girl on the 75th centile is heavier than 75 out of 100 other girls her age.

Stop telling fatties that it's ok to be unhealthy

What a horrible way to describe a 10 year old child.

It's overweight for a child

It's not overweight for an adult. I've been a size 6 at that weight aged 26 (almost same height)

It is highly unlikely that a 10 year old does anywhere near enough exercise for the reason for them being overweight to be muscle related

Are you angry because if they used the charts for adults she'd be a healthy weight?

So you think they're mistaken to use the centile scale?

Well BMI is not perfect. It is possible she is not overweight - if for example she does a lot of gymnastics and is extremely muscular.

FWIW, my DD Was overweight in y6 but that all sorted itself out in y7 by growing a Lott. She is in y12 now and beautifully tall and slender.

I'm four inches taller than her and not overly slim at 8 stone 3.

A friend got a similar letter about her younger child. Put a complaint on FB about it, saying her child was a perfect size. The thing is, her child is chubby. Not fat, but not as slim as my friend seems to think.

Hopefully your child will have a growth spurt and thin out, but maybe she won't. You are in a position to do something about it now.

Agree with people her weight and height doesnt tell you anything.

Unless she's extremely muscular, weight in relation to her height does provide a good general guideline as to whether she's overweight or not.

The thing is - and i'm not addressing anyone particular on this thread - that so often when parents talk about the issues around overweight children their response is

we need support and information
why don't schools do more
no one said anything
we didn't know, we didn't realise

There's talk about healthy eating all the time at school. Emphasis put on exercise. A nationwide weight check through schools has got to be a quick weigh and check against an average to get through all those hundreds of kids. Letter home if there is concern. What else can they do? No one's getting dragged off to boot camp.

There's no need to take it personally or think anyone is being shamed. If you genuinely hand on heart think your child is fine then do nothing and carry on as you are. It's a head's up.

@oilLovesChuck how exactly? I don’t have a weight problem, eat exceptionally healthy, exercise regularly and if I had children I’d ensure they were having a diet that was perfectly nutritionally correct and with the correct macro and calorie intake for their bodies.

I still dispute that 5”0, 8 stone 3 with a bmi of 22 is overweight...because it’s not. At 5”4 and 8stone7 I’m a size 4 and my periods stop. That’s not healthy.

Your 10 year old DD is as tall as I am. That weight for an adult of the same height falls well within the healthy BMI range.

Rather than focus on her weight, focus on her diet and lifestyle. Does she eat a healthy balanced diet and get regular exercise? Then ignore it. If you think she could eat better and/or be more active, then do something about it. There is no point focusing on the outcome, without looking at how you reach that outcome.

Puberty is definitely a contributing factor here. She's pretty developed in the chest and hip area, but completely slim everywhere else. She is extremely active, the only times she hasn't taken part in anything sports related is when she's been having a period as she suffers from extremely bad cramps and can't take any medication for them.

ShadyLady53 - your last post illustrates just how different we all are. I'm the same height as you and at 8'7 I'm defintely an 8, and my periods show no sign whatsoever of stopping. I'd have to lose at least another stone to fit into a 4.