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?

@BananaBreakfast she’s doing a lot better now, thank you, but she’s lost six years of her life from 15 onwards and the toll on the rest of the family is immeasurable.

It infuriates me when people who haven’t ‘been there’ make comments and pronouncements, but then I’d rather that they misguidedly make their bullshit judgements than be another family that have been through it x

@JeanClaudeVanDammit I'm learning about this at the moment, there will absolutely be correlations due to environmental factors, no doubt, but then the poor health is going to worsen impact on their ability to concentrate at school. Just as malnourishment has shown to directly to hinder productive learning, poor diet and activity levels are known to impact concentration and energy. Sorry I haven't got any links, I've mostly got badly scribbled handwritten notes from the webinars I've been attending! (I'm a sports premium link governor for a primary school, so by no means a professional, but interested and reading around on it- lots of work is going on in this area at the moment)

@userchange8945 thanks that’s interesting, once I’d pressed post I did realise I hadn’t thought of the link between poor diet and concentration which I can totally see will have an impact.

@JeanClaudeVanDammit in terms of making them better students, obviously improving one area of a child's life if they have a lot going on isnt going to miraculously make them excellent students, but good health is one thing we can encourage our children to keep them in prime condition to utilise education as best as they can. I'm sure we all know how we feel when we are tackling a task when we feeling well in ourselves vs when we aren't. Plus the correlation to less sick days and generally being more present in school of course.

I think it's a good idea. Personally I think they should bring back the nit nurse and the school dentist as well. We had all three at school, and there was no 'shaming' about it.

Hated it as a child as it was done in front of the rat of the year group. (1970). Hated is as teachers and parents as well as the nastier child would forever use weight as a
‘Friendly reminder/insult/joke).
Life long issues with food as a result including anorexia.

um no its not on! i remember we all weighed ourselves in class for a statistics project or some such.. including the teacher i remember being unbelievably horrified by the fact that i weighed a couple kg more than my adult teacher and as an 11 yr old how is that possible. It shook me and Ive always remembered the feeling of humiliation and that there must be something terribly wrong with me... fact is i was already taller than my teacher at 11, bigger feet and large frame so it was simple why but I didn't understand that at that age.

I see nothing wrong with it and parents shouldn't be allowed to opt out.
It should be done with the other routine health checks.
Child steps on the scale, weight is recorded but child can't hear or see it, and the only thing the person doing the weighing needs to say is well done. thank you. next.

I think it can be incredibly unhealthy when done badly. My eldest DS was diagnosed with anorexia and became quite ill directly as a result of school weighing him and then sending a letter to say he was overweight. He wasn’t. He was always way over the charts in height for his age and had an athletic muscular build- this isn’t me being in denial but he genuinely wasn’t overweight, he was in clothes a couple of years older than his age because of his height and was perfectly normal. The shame that was triggered in him when they told him he was overweight was so sad and he basically just stopped eating much at all until he became skeletal.

It was devastating and schools should be aware of the impact they can have on children when they tell them they are overweight, especially when the charts don’t seem to be a accurate for taller children but done by average weight for age not height. He has now recovered (aged 20) but can still be quite obsessive about food and exercise.

I think it is good as it provides universe data on health.

However, it just seems the PHE store the data and nothing is effectively done with it. Every so often there are half heated attempts by the Gov to tackle childhood obesity but nothing seems to be making a difference. My DD is in Yr 5. In reception her class were all similar sizes. Now there’s a huge difference with some pupils. I’m told my DD is ‘skinny’ and ‘needs a good feed’ but this is because she is being compared to overweight and obese children. The parents of the girls in her class don’t see their children as overweight and fit as they go to swimming lessons once a week and a dance class once a week.

Until the data is used to really tackle this ignorance then what’s the point?

It’s a really important tool. Many parents aren’t able to see with their own eyes that their child has a weight problem and need someone external to tell them.

I don’t like it. Weighing kids to find out population weights would be ok, but it’s a lie - that’s not what this is. After the weighing they often send patronising letters to parents saying their kid is overweight and suggesting diet changes. They aren’t trying to learn what is average, this is just another intrusive way to monitor parenting - when schools are there to educate. They shouldn’t be used as a way to actively judge parenting.

My child has always been 95th centile. He is super fit (has six pack!) and really thin, clothes for his age are always baggy, he just has bones of lead. I don’t appreciate some standardised letter telling me he should be on a diet.

How is it shameful? What an odd choice of word. Your weight is your weight whether you like it or not. It's a fact. Which bit of facts do you not like.

It's a monitoring process, so it can be tracked. If you don't like that, then that's a different issue.

I think it’s sad schools have to do it as a parent should know and make changes themselves if their child is over weight etc. However many have lost sight of what a healthy weight is so there is a need.

For the most part, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, as long as it’s done sensitively. I’m not 100% convinced it makes a big difference, but afoot some it may. I think that sensitivity is even more important post lockdown. We’ve asked children to reduce their physical activity for the greater good, and there were times for all of us where food took a bigger burden for being our pleasure than normal. To turn around and tell kids they’re overweight at this point wouldn’t be great. I think we need to invest in proper programs to get kids more active again.

They aren’t trying to learn what is average, this is just another intrusive way to monitor parenting - when schools are there to educate. They shouldn’t be used as a way to actively judge parenting.

What good is an average if the average is overweight, individual parents need to be told because they're ignorant to it. So you think BMI is wrong for your child so thousands of other children being let down by their parents should be allowed to continue putting on weight until adulthood? And the health risks that brings?

And it doesn't come from the schools, it's the NHS, school is just the venue for ease.

It's a bigger issue now due to Covid. Oweight children become Oweight adults. Our problems in the U.K. are added to by lack of healthcare facilities and fat unfit population. There could be other pandemics - lets be a bit readier next time.

I understand why it can be helpful

But ds2 (3rd child) got very chunky/fat over his junior school years and he didn’t want to be weighed, so he wasn’t

"Shameful" FFS. It shouldn't be any different to measuring kids heights, doing eye or hearing tests, taking them to the dentist. It's a way to identify issues which could impact their health and support the parents to improve it.

Its not like they take all the overweight kids and make them run around the playground or make the other kids point and laugh at them.

@TheoMeo

It's a bigger issue now due to Covid. Oweight children become Oweight adults. Our problems in the U.K. are added to by lack of healthcare facilities and fat unfit population. There could be other pandemics - lets be a bit readier next time.

I don't think we can say that with certainly. Or at least not yet

We might be able to do so once the measuring has been carried out and public health experts have had a chance to analyse the results. That is how we will establish if the pandemic has had an effect on weight

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

I think it’s sad schools have to do it as a parent should know and make changes themselves if their child is over weight etc. However many have lost sight of what a healthy weight is so there is a need.

Point of detail - schools don't 'do' it. Schools are the venue for the NHS programme, which has been running continuous since just after the Second World War.

It was important them in identifying the times when there were too many underweight children in the population (the origin of the free milk in schools programme) and remains important in looking at what population-level interventions should be introduced, and to plan services for the coming years.

We allowed it in Reception, the results were totally wrong, DD was measured to small and her weight was out as well. She wasn't the only one, the 1 minute per child is just not enough to be thorough.

We didn't consent to the Y6 check as DD was already body consious with being tall, having boobs and some children made comments about a friend already on her period. The last thing we wanted for her was being put on the spot in front of the class while comparing height/weight. A 10/11 year old knows a lot more than a 4/5 year old one.

Interestingly several girls weren't measured as the parents refused consent for the same reason.

I'm on the fence: DD was second youngest but second tallest when they did this in Yr 5 or 6 or thereabouts - so 9m younger than the tallest and heaviest child in class. She was also the fittest as she did a lot of sport, we lived the furthest and walked to school etc. Sadly she was heavy despite being slimmer than most due to height and I felt it unfair her age and height were not taken into account - this is the child that could lap the entire class in the 600m and was invited to train and run for the county - because we were sent a 'your child is in danger of being obese' note home, which DD took to heart for a couple of years and wouldn't even eat her Easter eggs (she still has the unopened Lindt bunny). In hindsight I'd have refused as I had no idea she'd be slightly over weight for her age and considered in danger of being obese. Her little friend (one of the shortest in class) was quite tubby /pot bellied and totally unfit if we walked home from school when she came for tea, but didn't get a letter. I think a more inclusive of other factors system would be better.

As long as nothing is communicated to the child, I don’t see a big issue. DS was underweight at his yr 6 check (a letter was sent/given to parents). On the cusp, but that’s his natural state and genes. He already had a nickname pertaining to his skinnyness so he was totally aware. And still struggles to gain weight 7 years later.

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