Year 6 children weigh in and measurements

[Yoyo2021]

Hi all,

Just received a email about the nhs coming in to weigh my child’s year group and measure height etc.

It said this will be done in a private room.

I’ve opted out following the link.

I just think what’s the point my child isn’t under weight or over weight!

If I had cause for concern I would go to the doctors!

AIBU

It's how they gather data.

Wel, if you don’t want it done that’s fine. It’s not a big deal.

DC’s was done recently.

I said no too

Last the statistics showed about 40% children were overweight or obese in Yr6...

So as long as you are sure you aren't one of them.

The children don't know the results. Only the parents.

Yabu. Many parents seem oblivious to their kids being overweight. It's storing up unpleasant long term health problems for them.

We didn’t even get the letter to opt out.

It’s got a link on the letter to opt out.

I agree with you. Caused my daughter so much stress. She was slightly overweight, now a skinny teen.

It’s a load of rubbish, my son has just had it done in reception the results were posted to me he was significantly underweight so I rang the number of the letter and they said they don’t do anything for underweight children just overweight and if I was concerned to contact the school nurse.

I always said No.
Although my DIL declined recently and they did it anyway. She was annoyed they went against her wishes.
GC perfect weight and height for her age.

I agree with you op. I was an overweight year 6, but knew I was eating healthily, by a years time I’d had a big growth spurt and was skinny again. I don’t see the point of causing kids stress when they’re all still growing.

I declined but my dd was weighed anyway.
I played holy hell and they removed her data.

I received my letter about my boy being 'obese' and saved it as a memento. He got super chubby in year 6.

In the next year he shot up and did an early growth spurt, and has been thin ever since. We look back on the letter and laugh, as he prepares for his next marathon.

I opted out for my kids too. I don't like the use of BMI for children. It assumes that all children grow at the same rate, which is of course not true.

Children tend to 'fill out' before growing upwards, and so according to BMI, would potentially be classed as overweight.

Given the increase in obese children, what do you think they should do instead?

How do they know wgat percentage of kids are normal, under or overweight if the normal kids drop out and skew the figures?

I don’t think it’s a big deal. I gave my DD a choice, she opted out as she didn’t want some random touching while measuring her. Bu5 I understand why it’s done.

How else should it be highlighted to parents that their children are overweight? I know that on these threads the only children that are classed as overweight in year 6 'shoot up' and are skinny teens/ adults but we all know that for a significant amount of children that isn't the case and they're actually overweight.

The problem is that as a county everyone has got bigger so some people don't know what is normal.

I'm in my early 40s and a few of my group of friends (including me) have some health issues related to weight. Just because it's normal to be fat nowadays doesn't make it any better for your health!

I don't know. There was parent on here recently who was appalled at the results and
suggestions but after going through what they ate in a day and it turned out to way more than most of the responders on the thread. You have to be careful with things. BMI doesn't work for me, I show obese when I'm healthy and normal when I'm skeletal but I'm happy for them to check in. It's not like the kids are told the results or shamed. We don't have scales in the house so it actually can useful for prescribing medication etc.

My d was a gymnast, training several
times a week by year 6, and rather muscular. We got a letter saying she was obese.

She brought it up for discussion with her therapist when she was an inpatient in an eating disorder unit at the other side of the country, with a BMI of about 13, as a 17 year old.

At the time of the letter we didn't make a big deal about it at home. She was aware of it, and we talked about how flawed BMI is as a measure. But it clearly got inside her head to a degree. It didnt 'cause' her ED but it certainly didn't help.

I see no problem with them doing it as it’s good to know whether children are changing over time. What I do have a problem with is the fame hungry parent who will inevitably go to the press, meaning the whole uk sees their child and they pose looking serious next to them. Complaining that the state has technically classed them as overweight because they weighed 1lb over the normal range saying how their child is devastated asking if they’re fat. When in reality they should just throw the letter away rather than sharing the contents with their child and the daily mail readership.

I don't care about the weighing. I do find it insane that some kids are blatantly over weight and parents are in complete denial

People do like to complain about BMI as a concept, and of course like any measurement and assessment tool it has flaws but for the majority of the population its fairly accurate within the parameters it gives.

For heavens sake we need public health initiatives. Far too many children are obese and most will go on to be obese adults. It stresses their bodies and ups their risks of just about every disease going. Opt in and sort it!

Dd2 I was told was very overweight. She has started her periods and also has huge boobs. Not overweight at all and very wrong that they send it home.