Children being weighed in school

[Pixxie7]

I have just seen that a school in Leicestershire is intending to weigh primary school children as part of the governments healthy eating drive.

Does anyone else feel that this could cause all sorts of problems going forward?

I do wonder if there is any point doing the weighing anymore. Only the parents with overweight children opt out which must skew the data. The ones with overweight children who didn't opt out and get informed their child is overweight are usually in denial. The ones I know go on about puppy fat, tall for her age etc but actually they are plain old fat. And it's the parents fault.

I'm sure there are plenty who are controlling with food and with their children's food that manage to miss out on getting their child weighed too.

@MaryBoBary this is exactly why it is needed. Because so many parents of overweight children are unable to see that their child is overweight.

I should have preempted these responses. I was just trying to help OP. Obviously I'm in denial

I do think that educating children about weight and having a balanced diet is a great idea.

However IMO the whole idea of weighing kids needs to be handled very delicately. If you are in a room full of kids and someone the children respect (teacher) stipulates what a healthy weight is, this will instantly single out children who are larger as bad (not making the grade). Embarrassing and publicly shaming them in front of their peers, which is disgusting. A school should be a nurturing and supportive.

Also if parents opt out then I'm not sure of the benefits of doing this money might be better spent on PE activities.

However IMO the whole idea of weighing kids needs to be handled very delicately. If you are in a room full of kids and someone the children respect (teacher) stipulates what a healthy weight is, this will instantly single out children who are larger as bad (not making the grade). Embarrassing and publicly shaming them in front of their peers, which is disgusting. A school should be a nurturing and supportive.

The school is simply the venue for the measurements to be taken.

There's no discussion and no teacher input. The letters are sent to parent's address and the kids are non the wiser about the results.

I was overweight as a kid. I remember someone I didn't know coming in to do tests of some sort in my early primary years, but don't remember being weighed, so it clearly didn't traumatise me. I wouldn't have liked it in secondary school. I remember being weighed in hospital pre-op when I was around 12, I know (and probably knew) I was still overweight, but the nurse never commented on it (to me at least, for all I know she may have said something to my mother), again it wasn't traumatic.

I remember doing school visits when I was a student nurse on placement, mid-2000s, and doing the heights, weights, sight and hearing tests.

I think it should just be a normal thing to be done and I actually don't think parents should have the option to opt out as, invariably, it is those children outside of the healthy range who are opted out. I have a friend with a child who is very overweight, the poor kid doesn't have anywhere near the energy to run around that they should. My friend was furious when she received the letter saying the child was overweight and was adamant the child just has puppy fat and is big-boned. I'm sure she said she hadn't known about the child being weighed else she'd have opted out. The child eats large, adult-sized portions, doesn't just have one slice of cake at birthdays, regularly has a selection of snacks after school and the family aren't very active at all. Ensuring all children are weighed (and probably regularly) would ensure children like these are flagged up and help could be put in place for their families.

It's also an indicator of neglect if a child is severely malnourished -think of poor wee Kyra Ishaq and that Polish Lad, Daniel. If children aren't being fed for whatever reason it's best schools are aware

I doubt at Reception age that children will have a concept of what a healthy weight is and so weighing them at the change will be a non-event.
I can imagine by year 6, however. It would be very different

@noworklifebalance

I doubt at Reception age that children will have a concept of what a healthy weight is and so weighing them at the change will be a non-event. I can imagine by year 6, however. It would be very different

The kids aren't told how much they weigh at either age.

Sorry in the article I saw it implied that the children were to be weighed weekly, not just a couple of times.

YABU. If parents aren’t stepping up in this regard then schools are having to.

Out of my DCs' classmates, the ones who had a chubby toddler look around yR now just look to have a significant amount of surplus body fat in their KS2 years.

I weigh and measure mine a few times a year to check that they are "growing well" as they straddle the line at the lower end of healthy. DS1 was often weighed at dieticians due to allergies as an infant. It's not weighing that's the issue, it's value judgements made. I've always talked about food as fuel and nutrition and the jobs that different foods do. Nothing is banned, but some foods should be eaten more cautiously than others. They are not "good or bad", they just have different amounts of energy and nutrition.

Parents often don't see their children's weight, especially where overweight is normal and average. Our friends wondered why they received the letter about their children in yR and think mine are "skinny"... years later theirs have lost their energy and slowed down a lot as they've continued to get heavier and my "thin" children are faster, more energetic and have more stamina. Their lifestyle isn't far wrong but introducing a bit more intensity of exercise rather than just steady walking, swapping some snacks around and care on portion size would make a significant difference in helping them to grow into themselves with time and help them to go into adulthood with healthier habits in the future. There's no point in spelling it out until they're ready to join the dots up themselves and they only see one or two at a time.

If schools use this data to establish healthy habits such as the daily mile in a general way that benefits all, that's useful. DS has specific learning difficulties and school uses data to add in interventions to support him. We don't moan that his self esteem is being crushed because he writes below age expectations and gets extra support, we use supportive language about it (and with his combination of SENs he could be very susceptible to low self esteem)

Weighing children or not, they do realise that they/ their peers are overweight anyway and ignoring it is as damaging as handling it insensitively.

The problems it might cause going forward are probably children in an environment already predisposing them to, for example, eating disorders.
The levels of obesity in this country are horrifying, and it's about time the State captured baseline data and stopped colluding with big 'food' companies & started educating the up & coming fat generation & their often podgy families.
There is such a thing as too much choice, the shelves & takeaways are full of revolting ersatz 'food'. It should be illegal to produce half the filth crammed into children's bodies.
Education. Legislation.
It won't happen though because "My Freedom" meanwhile the NHS is being sold off under our noses.

@Pixxie7

Sorry in the article I saw it implied that the children were to be weighed weekly, not just a couple of times.

Do you have a link to that article?

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiRpaz2xrnxAhWjolwKHZo3DawQFjAAegQIBBAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leicestermercury.co.uk%2Fnews%2Flocal-news%2Fmums-outrage-children-being-weighed-5571841&usg=AOvVaw0fQ17B5vfp1nZMCwrJFJZQ
Sorry not sure how to link properly but hopefully this will work.

I just feel that children may be judged if they are over weight through no fault of their own. Until they fix the problems of deprivation and make healthy food more affordable the problem with obesity will continue.

There sems to be an assumption that the child's weight is read out or otherwise communicated to the child/classmates. In fact, nothing is said at all, but a letter is sent home. Any "shaming" comes from affronted parents complaining about in in front of the child, or running to the local press for their " sad face" shot. It seems that it is rarely the slim parents of slim children who complain about the scheme.

They don't tell the children their weight so why would the overweight kids feel judged?
If I was a fat child this wouldn't be the issue. I would, as an adult, blame my parents for letting me get overweight, not the school for weighing me twice.

Growing up overweight is much more likely to cause long term problems around food than parents being told at an early stage there is potentially an issue developing and being able to make small lifestyle changes to stop it becoming a problem

When I was a child I was often told that I was heavy, got called lead-boots etc because I was heavier than I looked. I was described as sturdy when I child but I slimmed down drastically once I hit puberty. However years of being called heavy and mention of weights among my classmates meant that I developed an eating disorder in secondary school. I don't like the fact that schools draw attention to weight but that's due to my own sensitivities, my 5 year old is now the same build as I was as a child (you can still see ribs and spine but she's still stockier than some of her friends) and it does worry me a bit that she's going to be weighed even though I know she is a perfectly healthy weight.

I am sure that you can opt out of this.

Both my dcs were weighed. Both flagged as overweight. When I got dds letter (she's 16 now) I was very upset. She was a bit chonky at the time, but did dance for 3 hours a week, swimming probably 90 mins, horse riding probably 2 hours plus competing plus I didn't have a car at the time so we walked everywhere. Any chub she had melted off within 3 months and she shot up in height. Now a skinny 16 yesr old where size 6 in Next is too big.

Ds (7) was and still probably is a bit overweight. I rang the number on the letter and asked for advice. Nurse or whoever it was suggested we exercise more as a family. At the time ds was doing watersports 4 hours a week, riding probably 3 hours a week, on our allotment probably 3 hours a week plus did 10k steps at least 5 times a week on the school run, dog walks and generally running around. He has a healthy appetite and tho he is a veg refuser generally ate well. He is as strong as a bull from the watersports and literally doesn't stop all day.

The number on the scales doesn't always reflect what is happening in that childs life. We are an active family and the kids have always had sports and hobbies. The problem we have is some of those sports are weather dependent so from December to March they may be less active than normal and get a bit heavier during those months. But come May they are out doing stuff pretty much all nights and weekends.

And tbh, if parents are honest they know if their kids are overweight. Weighing them at school won't really change anything for the vast majority. There needs to ve a fundamental change to the diet industry and a fuckton of money invested into grassroots sports and sports and nutrition in school. School dinners leave a lot to be desired, even if they are healthier versions of sponge pudding and custard, it's not good to imply after every meal you get a (proper) pudding. I'd rather they offer a selection of fresh fruit and ditch the puddings altogether.

@HighlandCowbag

I am sure that you can opt out of this.

Both my dcs were weighed. Both flagged as overweight. When I got dds letter (she's 16 now) I was very upset. She was a bit chonky at the time, but did dance for 3 hours a week, swimming probably 90 mins, horse riding probably 2 hours plus competing plus I didn't have a car at the time so we walked everywhere. Any chub she had melted off within 3 months and she shot up in height. Now a skinny 16 yesr old where size 6 in Next is too big.

Ds (7) was and still probably is a bit overweight. I rang the number on the letter and asked for advice. Nurse or whoever it was suggested we exercise more as a family. At the time ds was doing watersports 4 hours a week, riding probably 3 hours a week, on our allotment probably 3 hours a week plus did 10k steps at least 5 times a week on the school run, dog walks and generally running around. He has a healthy appetite and tho he is a veg refuser generally ate well. He is as strong as a bull from the watersports and literally doesn't stop all day.

The number on the scales doesn't always reflect what is happening in that childs life. We are an active family and the kids have always had sports and hobbies. The problem we have is some of those sports are weather dependent so from December to March they may be less active than normal and get a bit heavier during those months. But come May they are out doing stuff pretty much all nights and weekends.

And tbh, if parents are honest they know if their kids are overweight. Weighing them at school won't really change anything for the vast majority. There needs to ve a fundamental change to the diet industry and a fuckton of money invested into grassroots sports and sports and nutrition in school. School dinners leave a lot to be desired, even if they are healthier versions of sponge pudding and custard, it's not good to imply after every meal you get a (proper) pudding. I'd rather they offer a selection of fresh fruit and ditch the puddings altogether.

So you knew your children were overweight and instead of addressing it got all defensive? This is probably the type of person who needs to hear the reality.

DS is in Reception and was weighted and had his vision tested last week. He didn't notice the weighing really but was chatting excitedly about the pirate game that was the vision test. Same with all the other children, all they could talk about was the pirate game. I can't see how it can be damaging for Reception children who shouldn't really be aware of weight.

A friend of DS' got the very overweight letter which I knew would happen as he is visibly overweight but the mum refused to believe it.