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?

Also personally I had very little faith in routine health checks.

Example and this is true...DD around four years old not at school yet, went for an eyesight test...standard letters numbers chart...

Person in charge said 'oh dear, your daughter has issues and really needs to see a specialist... she can't tell me what the letters are...

er...I said ....my daughter can't read yet...

Yes, honestly!

twelve years later no eyesight problems and heading for top marks in all G.C.S.Es

My DD in year 5 is about the weight of an average 6 year old
She should not be being weighed at school

Trouble is we live in a time where we arsng allowed to "piss off parents"

No longer can teachers etc pull kids or parents aside and tell them that they specifically are not wearing suitable clothing/ have nits/are not a healthy weight etc

Everything has to be a blanket policy aimed at no one in particular so as not to single someone out.

I think this is one of those times where maybe it would he better to able to target the relevant childrens' parents. But then parents need to help themselves a bit too and not take it as a personal attack but merely as people who care about your kids health trying to help.

So long as its done sensitively there's nothing wrong with it. Children are weighed and measured at school every year in my country, as part of their annual health check with the school nurse (weight, height, chat about feelings, vision and hearing, scoliosis check). Spotting potential weight issues before they get too bad makes dealing with them much easier than waiting until its beyond obvious.

You can refuse, no need to get huffy about it.

@WorraLiberty

The obesity crisis in children is a real societal issue. One that is probably best tackled via food manufacturers first by the government but also out of the 21 meals a child eats in a week, 5 of them are probably a shit way to eat for 38 weeks of the year so that would be a better place to start than telling families to go for a walk and showing them a healthy plate as per NHS guidelines.

I disagree. It's best tackled first by the parents.

Food manufacturers and the government didn't give birth to those children. Parents shouldn't need to be told their children need to go for walks/do other exercise, it's just common sense and yet so many need telling.

It's time parents stopped blaming everyone else for their own kids being overweight but since so many parents can't/won't get their own weight under control, it's becoming an issue that's not going away.

So much wrong with what you’ve said here. I can only suggest you do some reading about how food manufacturers have lead the crisis in obesity.

As long as it is done in a discreet way, I don't see any issues. Also the recordings are not shouted out across the room etc.

What's your concerned?

So much wrong with what you’ve said here. I can only suggest you do some reading about how food manufacturers have lead the crisis in obesity.

I've done plenty of reading and the buck still stops with the parents when it comes to seeing their children don't overeat and that they get enough exercise.

Also, that they stop waiting for a growth spurt that doesn't always happen.

Even unhealthy food doesn't necessarily lead to obesity if the kids aren't overfed and under exercised.

I do think that the government needs to be tackling the food industry and work/life balance more than parents. The Andrew Jenkinson book is a real eye opener. I am able to act on its recommendations as I have plenty of spare time and money but what about those who don't?

Weighing is important though as it provided the evidence that action must happen.

@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.

This is the first comment on this entire thread that has demonstrated any kind of logic. Phew.

@Pixxie7

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.

'Healthy food' is pretty affordable in the UK, for the vast majority who access to a supermarket. Not only will this quantify the child obesity problem, it should also identify the hordes of 'starving children' that people on mumsnet claim exist, and therefore target help towards their families . So a good thing all around, I would say.

Normal. I remember being weighed in infants and primary. I have no problems with the schools weighing my child, I want her to be healthy.

The programme has been running in one form or another since just after WW2

It's provided invaluable data for both health interventions (the start of the milk in schools programme when widespread underweight was shown, and again when it was no longer needed on health grounds) and for longer term planning of likely health needs of the population as a whole.

Yes, you can opt out, but if that's widespread, it makes the quality of the evidence that bit poorer.

As long as it is done in a discreet way, I don't see any issues. Also the recordings are not shouted out across the room etc

It has to be done privately and sensitively (complain like crazy if it's not, as that's a clear breach of standards) and individual results are shared only with parents/caregivers.

luckily we don't have anything like this in Scotland

erm, yes you do!

It's called CHSP (school)

www.ndc.scot.nhs.uk/National-Datasets/data.asp?SubID=11

I just decline when school ask for permission.

I don't see a problem with this and I think it could be an advantage for slightly older kids say 10/11 years olds to have a lesson on how different markers measure your size and what is healthy in an age appropriate way and also include measures of fitness and strengthen.

If I had more of an understanding of what a healthy weight and size was for my body I wouldn't have developed the eating disorder that plagued me on and off through my teens and early 20s and only fully shuck off as I entered my 30s.

I didn't have any facts or stats to determine whether I was a healthy weight and size I only had my mother's distorted eyes. I remember being weighed before and operation and my mum calling me a "little fatty" the nurse weighing me said actually thats a normal weight. That weight is burned into my brain and I will never forget it. A few years later she told me I was getting chunky and needed to be careful.... On the day of my prom. I starved myself and found myself with anorexia and at the weight 4 years earlier she had called me fat.
Since having my little one I have put both looked in the red book about where I would have fallen on the chart and for both it was around the 25th percentile perfectly matching my height (also 25th percentile) at my lowest weight I was on the 0.4th percentile. I feel so much pity for teenage me that wasn't given the adequate knowledge of healthy bodies, the numbers on the scale are meaningless without context and clarity. It is this bit that should be taught in schools alongside a full physical assessment and information about different builds.

I am a midget just 5'2 but I am also a narrow build - I struggle to find bags that don't fall of my shoulders. I worked with a colleague who was normal - broad build and same height as me. Our ideal/target weights are not the same and never will be. Our bones structures are completely different. Kids need to learn about what their body type it and how it can change with age especially when puberty kicks in before it happens.
Control comes up a lot in eating disorders, imagine having a body that is changing and you don't understand why. Puberty talks seem to solely focus on growing boobs and pubes and bleeding from your vagina and less on all the more subtle changes of your body.

Presumably this is only children who are registered on the school health system?

We opted out for just this reason.

@Oliver899

Presumably this is only children who are registered on the school health system?

We opted out for just this reason.

I'm not sure what you mean by school health system.

This is an NHS/Public Health programme, so all DC will be included.

The school is simply the venue for the visiting NHS/PH team

all Marguerite2000@ I guess it’s all relevant but if healthy food is affordable why the every increasing number of food banks?

Op I used to do this as part of my job .
It's done very sensitively and confidentially we don't tell children their results.
It is very rare that children are underweight but many are overweight especially by year 6. We have normalised overweight body types to the extent that we don't see this as overweight but the normal. Kids we now see as 'skinny' are usually completely healthy and right in the middle of the centiles in terms of weight and bmi.
We offered follow up support and advice to parents .
It is totally optional though and you don't have to take part

I can see the point of weighing children, to get an overall pattern of children's weight in the population, but it's a waste of time sending letters home to the parents of an overweight child.
Either the parents already know and don't care, or they already know and are trying to do something about it. It would be a very rare parent who says, 'oh, my goodness, I really had no idea my child was overweight, thank you for letting me know, I'll act on it.'

meditrina

Where I live, the school health system is part of the NHS but separate to the health care children receive from their GP. You can opt out. It's not compulsory.

It's probably the same in your area. By law, parents opt in to everything - education, health care, the works.

However, it might not be the same if your child was weighed and found over/under weight as then there would be some evidence that you weren't discharging your responsibilities adequately as a parent.

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

Not as long as it is dealt with correctly

Yes it will be appropriate to offer the parents advice about nutrition and exercise.

No it will not be appropriate to call out the child a fatty who needs to do on a diet.