To ask what you think of weighing children in school

[cadburyegg]

Discussion on our school groups about the possibility of weighing children restarting as it was halted in March 2020. Lots of parents think it’s shameful and unnecessary, some are of the opinion that it’s “just for statistics” and can also be useful to see what centile your child is at.

I’m on the fence tbh. What are your thoughts?

@wirralwoods The National Measurement Programme was part of the evidence for introducing the sugar tax. That's a result.

It's also been used for decades as evidence for support of active travel measures. In the real world there are lobbies against active travel in favour of bigger, heavier, more powerful cars/ SUVs, and bigger roads and carparks to put them on. But there are actual planning guidelines that require walking and cycling to be made safe and attractive, and for children to be able to travel independently, as we used to.

Recently, (preCovid) children's independent travel to school went over a cliff, with almost no primary aged kids walking by themselves any more. This is the sort of thing you look for correlations in the height-weight data.

IANAP but even I can see the importance in doing this. Not just for statistical purposes but for some DC, this will probably be the only time they are weighed/measured so there's no other opportunities to detect any anomalies. I can remember this from my own schooldays and you were never told your weight, it was just written down on the form.

I don’t allow my child to participate. I’m a child of the seventies and I can see my daughter is slimmer than I was (I often see posts claiming children were thinner in the 70s and I look at my class photo and see how untrue that is and remember mums of thin friends worrying that they were too thin!) My partner’s family is rife with EDs and we see the damage that that is currently doing to their children. So my child is not participating.

"My partner’s family is rife with EDs and we see the damage that that is currently doing to their children. So my child is not participating."

Presumably you are already addressing the problems of ED's.
How would being weighed make that worse, to your children?

BMInis really only accurate if you have average build and muscle mass.

But the majority of people do. Even being a very active adult doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have tons of muscle, only specific exercises like weight training increase muscle mass and even then it takes time to build. Sure, body builders may well weigh in as overweight but they’re not the ones getting weighed at slimming clubs and will already be aware of what they should be eating.

Lots of children are sporty but few will be very “muscular” at least not to the point where the number on the scales tips an otherwise skinny child into the overweight category. For the majority of adults the BMI can be a useful tool and it’s no different with children.

Weighing people doesn't make them slimmer. It would be interesting to know how many children became slimmer and healthier as a direct result of having been weighed at school. I'm guessing not many.

It’s not supposed to make them slimmer, it’s supposed to give us a snapshot of their physical health so that resources, public health campaigns etc can be planned and allocated appropriately.

@Oblomov21 Sadly the parental response to these weigh-ins has been to be very controlling with food and an obsessional response with exercise. It’s very worrying.

It’s not supposed to make them slimmer, it’s supposed to give us a snapshot of their physical health so that resources, public health campaigns etc can be planned and allocated appropriately.

Oh ok, I must have misunderstood then - so the official line is that it's not intended to be for the health benefit of the individual child at all? That parents are not informed of their child's weight on the basis of this, or advised to take any action?

@cadburyegg Exactly OP and the 'healthy range' of BMI is actually very broad so it's unlikely that normal growing fluctuations or the amount of muscle an even very active child would have would push you outside of this range.

I think it's important. It will also highlight if a child is underweight too I presume.

I think it is important.

Especially with so many children in poverty and not all getting meals. This way they can maybe reach out and help. I hope.

@lazylinguist

It’s not supposed to make them slimmer, it’s supposed to give us a snapshot of their physical health so that resources, public health campaigns etc can be planned and allocated appropriately.

Oh ok, I must have misunderstood then - so the official line is that it's not intended to be for the health benefit of the individual child at all? That parents are not informed of their child's weight on the basis of this, or advised to take any action?

“Your child's measurements will be used to check they're in the healthy weight range. If your child is above a healthy weight, you can get support from your local council or NHS services.

Your child does not have to take part, but every child who's measured is contributing to the national picture about how children are growing.

The more children who take part, the clearer that picture will be. The information collected helps your local NHS and local council plan and provide better health services for the children in your area”

Obviously if your child is above a healthy weight you will be advised and offered support, but this information is taken for a bigger purpose- I guess like a weight census, by helping us to understand the population, it can be used to plan and allocate services.

@lazylinguist I think you're being deliberately dense here. The act of weighing a child doesn't miraculously transform them into a healthy weight but knowing that a child is under or over weight is the first step to doing something about it. It's obvious if a child is very obese but not necessarily if they're just somewhat overweight. Having the information is helpful. It's also useful to have a general picture about groups of children so funding (for sports and healthy eating programs etc) can be appropriately targeted.

Hmmm... looking at the UK childhood BMI categorisation tables, it appears that a 10yo girl can have a BMI that would be classed as overweight/very overweight, but which at 13yo would be classed as normal. I work with children that age and I would say that 10yo girls often do appear like perfectly healthy teenagers, and that may well be confusing for their parents.

This article about a study into how parents react to the letter is interesting:

bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-016-3481-3

From another thread. My friend refused consent. When asked why she said "the government doesn't get to take away all of her sport and group activities for a year and then get to turn around and call her fat

@MercyBooth

From another thread. My friend refused consent. When asked why she said "the government doesn't get to take away all of her sport and group activities for a year and then get to turn around and call her fat

and what did the parents do to offset thevreduction of formal exercise?

@MercyBooth

From another thread. My friend refused consent. When asked why she said "the government doesn't get to take away all of her sport and group activities for a year and then get to turn around and call her fat

That's a great shame.

Because it would be quite helpful to be able to demonstrate the effects of lockdown changes to permitted behaviour on children's health (via proxy of their weight).

It could be key information when deciding the risk/benefits of future closures (if another bad new variant came trotting along).

The purpose of the survey is not really about the individual, it's for the population as a whole.

In my experience it's parents with overweight children that refuse to have their child weighed.

I think it's a good idea, but it needs to be carried out appropriately. The results should be very private from other students.

I didn't consent.
I can see if there's a problem with my dc's weight and will take action accordingly.

@StuffinThePuffin

I think it's a good idea, but it needs to be carried out appropriately. The results should be very private from other students.

That is exactly how it is done - it's very clear in the guidance, and if the teams who come into a school breach the required standards, then complain.

(Linka are earlier in the thread)

@FindingMeno

I didn't consent. I can see if there's a problem with my dc's weight and will take action accordingly.

But the problem is on an individual level many parents can’t see that.

On a societal level if parents of overweight children withdraw them then it will skew the results and make it harder to target public health initiatives where needed

The increase in kids with eating disorders would make me think this is not a great plan. Doctors & parents can weigh kids. Why should teachers have to do it?

@Sirzy that is a very fair point.