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?

If my children were fat, I might have an issue with it

But seeing as they’re not remotely overweight, I’m relaxed.

I just don’t like the fact it will be a waste of school time. The queuing and admin etc

@purplesequins

I think it's great in the right context.

I'm not in the uk and here every child in school has a welfare check with a school nurse. that includes measuring height and weight, basic sight test and a chat about general and mental welbeing. parents get a short description of outcome and a referral to gp or optician to follow up concerns if issues were identified.

wrt 'lockdown weight' my dc schools have upped pe from 3x a week to every day until the holidays. it's a mix of structured exercise and 'mad running about' play sessions (with water guns last week in the heat)

What also causes eating disorders is being an overweight child - teased/bullied/or just being generally fatter than their friends.

Far more of a trigger than being part of a whole year group measurement exercise.

Good grief, absolutely!
The attitude of some parents is frightening.

From googling children in Scotland are only weighed in P1 and that’s it so not the same as England

I wouldn’t mind if some actions were suggested if a child was overweight. We have taken our overweight child to the drs. He eats the same as the rest of us, exercises much much more (loves sport) yet is very overweight and the rest of the family aren’t. We go to the drs and they say make sure he gets enough exercise and eats healthily. He does! He sees his friends eating endless crisps and sweets and doing no exercise and they’re not fat.

Has anyone succeeded in finding out about endocrine tests etc for kids?

And I don't get the inevitable posters who rock up to these threads and say "I'm not getting my child measured because they do more sports than a triathlete, therefore their BMI will make them overweight when they aren't".

Just bin the letter then.

Has anyone succeeded in finding out about endocrine tests etc for kids?

My experience is if you are concerned about something like that you have to be very specific and ask the GP to arrange the tests/referrals

Beyond nursery age I don’t agree.

With one child year group a mother was told child over weight - he certainly wasn’t, but all it done was make feel bad parent issues around food. Kid is stick thin and only eats shit food.

Those that where considered underweight precovid had lunch police hoovering over them.

There has been whole issue around food done within school from giving rewards to those eating all lunches (some have big pack ups) to sending kids home with left overs school lunches that they had to put in draw until home time.

Beyond nursery I don’t see necessary given the growth spurts they have. Weighing a kid doesn’t tell you if they eating balance diet.

I hated it also, I still remember other kids laughing because I only weighed 4.5stone

Necessary. Friend had let her son become very overweight, he ate crap all day long a did NO exercise. Her and her DH only started to properly address this when the kid was weighed at school and they were prompted by school to address the issue. He was obese for his age and they hadn't realised, it gave them a real wake up call.

Have no objection to child ever being weight etc at hospital as this needed when having certain meds.

I actually think it should be done every year because then it will very much show patterns and show no it’s not just a one off, or a growth spurt, or puppy fatn

My child was flagged as underweight in year 6 (not a surprise, and under a paediatrician anyway, so regularly weighed at appointments)

I got sent a leaflet telling me to switch to low fat spreads, semi skimmed milk and no added sugar squash.

If they are going to spend resources on this - which I absolutely agree with - then they need to follow it through properly, with interventions that might actually make a difference, not just send totally inappropriate leaflets through the post, without even bothering to differentiate between underweight and overweight children!

There’s good points raised here about whether or not we (scientists/government/HCP) really know what a healthy weight range is for a child who is going through growth spurts, puberty etc. It is not the same as an adult and i don’t think we have an accurate baseline. Yes many children are obese and that needs to be addressed but not by blaming parents, and not by claiming exercise is the be all and end all of it- diet is more likely to be the problem and requires a family/society shift away from sandwiches, crisps and sweets to a more sustainable nutritious meal

I remember when my DDs were weighed at school. They knew which children’s parents didn’t give permission for them to get weighed - all but one were overweight or obese.

I’m assuming this is primary age children. I work in a primary and I think it’s a good thing that parents are made aware of where their child is in relation to peers and healthy weights.
There is no shaming, children are weighed individually and discreetly with no one but the school nurse and parents knowing the results ( results sent sealed to parents)

Depends on the age tbh. Primary probs fine as they can turn it into a fun game. High school absolutely not. That way madness lies.

Beyond nursery I don’t see necessary given the growth spurts they have. Weighing a kid doesn’t tell you if they eating balance diet.

Because 9.9% of reception age children (age 4-5) are obese, with a further 13.1% overweight. At age 10-11 (year 6), 21.0% are obese and 14.1% overweight. This data is gathered as part of the National Child Measurement Programme. And that's just in England alone.

I hated it also, I still remember other kids laughing because I only weighed 4.5stone

Parents get a sealed letter sent to their homes, so no chance of that happening.

My son was weighed in reception. I was told he was severely underweight and never heard anything of it again. No offer of help, nothing.

Perhaps they should carry on weighing but not share results with parents or children. Then they get the population statistics without the moaning and groaning from parents. I don't see the logic in opting out. Presumably it just means that parents are unable to deal with the truth?

Absolutely not.
I work in CAMHS eating disorders and you wouldn't believe how many kids this effects.
It's often the first time they pay attention to their weight, and then all the kids are discussing their weight with eachother etc, with the learned thinking that heavier is bad.

Also - and I say this as gently as I can - if your child is overweight but you don't want them weighing because they'll be teased, I can assure you that you don't need to put them on scales for them and their classmates to realise that they're larger than others. Weight is visible. The weigh-ins would make no difference. They already know they're larger than their classmates.

@DipSwimSwoosh

My son was weighed in reception. I was told he was severely underweight and never heard anything of it again. No offer of help, nothing.

See this is where I see a massive problem. Tell the parents their child is overweight or underweight but not offering help or referring for help is pointless. I would hate to think of a child being withheld food or made to follow some strict diet . Introducing children to diet culture is more damaging. The parent need proper help not just a leaflet saying switch to sugar free squash

My youngest child who is now in year 3 has never been given any health checks in school. I think hearing, sight and general health checks used to be offered in year 1 but cost cutting meant that it was stopped. Just weighing children to gather statistics when they are not offered the checks that could potentially highlight problems with sight, hearing etc seems at bit wrong to me.

And let’s also remember the wide range of healthy weight, Ds is 11 on the shorter side of average for age and the healthy weight range for his height is 14kg

@DipSwimSwoosh

My son was weighed in reception. I was told he was severely underweight and never heard anything of it again. No offer of help, nothing.

But then did you as the parent seek help when told that?