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

[coldtits]

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

I don't think you can blame rising obesity on shorter (or absence of) breaks at school. If young children are fat a large part of the blame must lie with parents (whether they like it or not). For what it's worth I think children should have a break in the afternoon - but you can hardly force them all to spend that break charging around. Unfortunately it seems that the fatter the child the less likely they are to want to join in physical activities - it's a vicious circle. One of the biggest changes since I was at school is in the number of children who now get driven there(and indeed almost everywhere). They don't walk anywhere and they don't play out - that's not down to schools it is down to parents.

The mother is overweight as is her son. How can she say he doesn't have an ounce of fat on him? He has a double chin. What's that made up of if not fat? Marshmallows?

It's exactly parents like these that the scheme is trying to target- those that are in complete denial and blind to the fact that their child id overweight.

yes Liliangish, that is true the issue of 'choice' of schools being mainly to blame for the driving.
"stranger danger" is another irrational reason that parents won't let their DC's out of the door to play.

Schools don't weigh children, child health teams do. The school is just the location.

And that child is overweight, as is his mother. So her perception of his weight is probably skewed and distorted by her own body image.

I will also add that DS1 was a chub at 9 but he was a basket ball playing, Judo club attending football playing (fairly healthy eating) boy who has grown up to be 6ft. and slim.

So it would not have been right to make an issue out of it that time.

Oh, I hope I get one of these letters because as soon as the school / NHS wants to adress topics of my children's health I'm going to ask them to compare their menu ingredients to mine... and I'm going to have a whole lot of fun talking about crappy white bread and nutrasweet fortified daily desserts. (although my kids are pretty skinny so I probably won't get the chance)

What a waste of money this is. I'm sure there someone in need of cancer drugs who would benefit more than my kids being weighed. I mean, they could just get on our scale.

Or, maybe, they should put the competition (and fun!) back into sports at school.

27% of UK children are overweight
Obesity is a growing problem and it is very difficult to lose weight as an adult if you have been overweight/obese as a child
We don't eat sensibly and we are increasingly sedentary as a nation, and people cannot recognize when their own children are overweight
Don't make excuses, if the BMI ie an objective measurement says your child is overweight, do something about it.
It is not subjective.
'Big boned' 'chunky' 'well-covered' etc are all excuses
If we don't act now, we are sentencing these children to an adulthood of obesity related health problems

And actually this type of simple health measurement followed by intervention has the possibility of altering the health trajectories of an awful lot of people.
It is only a weight and height measurement, pretty non-invasive

BMI is not universally accepted as an absolute in determining health in adults, let alone children. It is merely an indicator. Taking it too literally is just silly, still it makes for good headlines.

the BMI is an ineffective measure; like calling a small baby (who has small genes in her family) underweight.

DD was such a child she is an adult and still takes a size 3 shoe she just a small person!!

I think SS should come into everyone's home and check their fridges for any inappropriate food.

I wonder how many parents of overweight children or who are overweight themselves are actually unaware of situation.

I mean I am a bit heavier than I would like to be, but I am under no illusion that the jeans I am wearing are really a size 6.

I live near a university and this is the first year I have noticed whole groups of obese students walking yo lectures.

The girls, especially, crammed into skinny jeans with tummies which look like mine did a few weeks after having DD3. Bottoms so wobbly you wonder if thru have ever done any exercis at all.

My dd1 is not skinny, she is fairly sturdy but pretty active. She is age five and weighs three stone.

Sorry iPhone can't spell and seems to be obsessed with street slang - every time I type 'to' it puts 'yo'

I agree that people perception of "fat" has changed. That boy looks a little heavy to me, but I'm sure with a healthy lifestyle he can grow into a healthy adult.

I think he is a perfect example of why the government are weighing/measuring children and sending parents health advice.

The mum "has to force food down hime?"
That doesn't sound healthy to me.

coldy
is it cos your kids is fat?

Yes small orange I've noticed the fat students too (I live very near a halls of residence).

And when I get on the bus at 4pm with all the pupils from the nearby secondary school I notice how tall they are (are people getting taller as well as fatter?????) and how big a lot of them are. I feel quite petite next to them (and I'm not at all).

Parents often cannot be objective when it comes to their child's weight, some of ds' friends are overweight, yet their parents cannot see it. Children have got bigger; society's perspective of what is normal is so skewed now. The fact that a newspaper can make a story out of a clearly overweight child being labelled as overweight and it being presented as if the health authorities are in the wrong is proof of that.

Well said DarrellRivers. We should be doing everything we can to nip childhood obesity in the bud - let's be honest do any of us really think our children will thank us for letting them swell up into enormous porkers just because we didn't want to hurt their feelings?

I am overweight and as such very aware of the risk to my son. To my shame he is now overweight - probably looks in stature like the boy in the article but without the double chin. he eats a variety of foods, lots of fruit etc and drinks plenty of water. Yet he is overweight and I suspect it may be down to lack of exercise. So we are off swimming this nmorning (which he loves) and are starting the MEND course in April.

Personally I think that what alot of parents get wrong (myself included) are portion sizes. Children's plates are bigger, portion sizes are bigger and as a result our children are getting bigger without many people realising it.

As for accuracy of BMI charts well.... anyone who knows me locally realises I am NOT a big fan of centile charts, BMI charts etc BUT there is no denying that the UK's children are heavier than other European children - trouble is we've normalised this because we see it everyday.

My son is overweight. He is not any bigger than many other children in his class but when his clothes are off and he's in the bath I can see the extra weight.

Jolly pirqte I think you are rightabout the portion sizes. Some children need very small portions. It's not just junk food that is making children fat but too much supposedly healthy food for example fruit juice and smoothies are full of sugar and calories, dreadful for the teeth and not a natural way of consuming vitamins. As a treat it's fine but not as a normal everyday part of a child's diet.

Agree Riven - we walk half an hour to school (downhill, past the other parents sitting in their cars) and at the gate the other mums make a sort of pitying noise and then say to me 'you really must learn to drive - he must be so tired' looking at 6 year old ds.

He's fine. Obviously.