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Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

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Original poster

This is why I refuse to have my children weighed at school

136 replies

coldtits · 18/03/2010 19:54

www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7464888/Boy-of-five-labelled-obese-and-given-heart-disease-war ning.html

OP posts:

fruitful · 18/03/2010 19:57

Thats just bizarre! Are they actually still saying that child is obese, or was it a mistake?

Itsjustafleshwound · 18/03/2010 20:00

But it is just box ticking - the article implied that there was no follow up or any further investigation other than handing out a load of leaflets because the boy's BMI fell into a certain range

Absolute madness!

Somehow, I won't opt out of the weighing scheme but I treat all health advice doled out by the HA and school with the suspicion it deserves...

Original poster

coldtits · 18/03/2010 20:00

Apparently he's obese.

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thisisyesterday · 18/03/2010 20:09

me too coldtits. though i came in for a flaming on here when i said i didn't want him to be weighed etc at school!

gremlindolphin · 18/03/2010 22:39

My dd is obese too! She's not, she's tall and well built like me and dh.

The letter you get is so patronising and gives you details of how to exercise and eat heathily. We swim, run, ride and walk all the time and eat well. Makes me very cross. I didn't object to the weighing thing initially as I thought that the whole data collection thing could be quite useful.

My god daughter has Downs and BMI shouldn't be used to assess them and she came up as underweight and they also got an inappropriate letter.

I won't let dd2 be weighed.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 19/03/2010 09:47

We have no choice, my dd always comes back with the letter saying she is underweight. I wonder if her school think I don't feed her.

herbietea · 19/03/2010 10:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

missedith01 · 19/03/2010 10:04

Yes, I can see from his picture that he's simply gargantuan ...

belgo · 19/03/2010 10:07

The letter didn't say he was obese it said he was overweight, which he is, you can see him more clearly on the DM website.

belgo · 19/03/2010 10:10

DM link

LilyBolero · 19/03/2010 10:14

He does look chubby imo, the letter doesn't say he is obese, it says he is at the top end of children's weights at that age.

He weighs more than my nearly 9 year old. And for all the mother says 'it's going to give people eating disorders' - had she just filed/binned the letter he would have been none the wiser. However SHE has put him in the national press, for the scrutiny of the nation, and planted the idea that he might be overweight. He wouldn't have even known the letter existed had she not gone to the press.

MiffyWhinge · 19/03/2010 10:14

I opt out too, one child in and out of hospital with a major eating disorder is enough for my family - it's so unhelpful to encourage obsession with numbers on a scale.

Bumblingbovine · 19/03/2010 10:15

That article asys his mother was told he is clinically obese. I don't know what the DM articles says but either she was told he is overweight or that he is obese. Which is it?

I suppose he might be overweight - it is difficult to tell when he is clothed but he most definitley is not clinically obese. If the measurements say that they are wrong they just are!

Cadelaide · 19/03/2010 10:18

We didn't get the option to opt out, as far as I know. DS just came home one day and said "we're going to be weighed".

NoahAndTheWhale · 19/03/2010 10:18

I agree with LilyBolero - how does having your child in a newspaper article help matters?

I have no idea about how fat or otherwise he is - he is about the same height as my 6 year old DS and about a stone heavier so he must be "fatter" than that. But as I think my DS is a healthy weight fir his height maybe it's me that is wrong there.

MiffyWhinge · 19/03/2010 10:19

(for avoidance of doubt am not saying that measuring children's weight leads ultimately and inexorably to an eating disorder, just that am not going to entertain it personally)

NoahAndTheWhale · 19/03/2010 10:19

We definitely had the option to opt out when DS was in reception.

LilyBolero · 19/03/2010 10:20

The letter is reprinted in the DM article.

MoChan · 19/03/2010 10:22

What doesn't ever seem to be taken into account with all this weighing/bmi stuff is the fact that some people really are more sturdily built, and physically denser than others, and will therefore be heavier. I had two toddlers in my care the other day, who looked almost identical in terms of height/build/chubby-looking-ness, etc, and yet one is light as a feather, the other feels extremely heavy. I think it's a shame if people are made to feel bad about it.

BessieBoots · 19/03/2010 10:23

I'm beginning to think this weight thing is a load of crap. I went on the nhs website to see how much weight I need losing- after typing in my height and weight it said I wasn't overweight. I'm delighted, obviously, but I know I am overweight- Just like that kid is not.

umf · 19/03/2010 10:35

Coming from a family of eating disorders this makes me furious.

If children's weight is a government concern, why not increase the amount of exercise they do at school? (Preferably instead of drilling them for pointless tests.)

I work from time to time on archaeological digs with teenagers. It's unbelievable how unfit they are, not strong enough even to use a spade for more than a few minutes. Most of them do only 2 hours of PE a week at school now, including changing time - that's less than lots of them spend on RE.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 19/03/2010 11:41

OTOH, if the children are weighed and measured flags can be raised. A friend of my dd weighed 45kg (not sure of the imperial). she was morbidly obese although her mum seemed oblivious to the fact that her dd couldn't run and was teased. The school nurse intervened and lower fat alternatives were offered instead of full fat (milk for example). The child hasn't lost weight, but she has grown taller. Both girls are 8.

MoChan · 19/03/2010 12:37

That's a bit rubbish about the half fat milk. It's surely sugar/refined carbs that are the problem?

roseability · 19/03/2010 13:22

This is outrageous and it makes me so angry

I suffered years of mild eating disorders, anxiety and depression about my body image. This was mainly down to a bullying, abusive adoptive father who called me 'fat' but also exaggerated by being told on numerous occasions that I was overweight by the school nurse.

I was the county cross country champion at the time! My physique means I have a higher ratio of muscle to fat but this was never taken into consideration. People can get focused on numbers, guidelines and targets without taking the whole and individual person into perspective. Yes I agree that kids should be active and a healthy weight but this is an overall picture, not just based on numbers.

This will only lead to heartache for many children and their families without actually tackling the issue of children's fitness and health. Their are so many factors involved with this. My children will not be getting weighed

OrmRenewed · 19/03/2010 13:26

Oh yeah! What a fatty

Obese?

At that age weight fluctuates all the time. If his diet is good it will sort itself out.

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