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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Obesity in a Reception Child

40 replies

couldtryharder · 24/05/2012 19:49

I'm training as a TA at a local primary school. We have a child in reception so 5 years old tops and she is very over weight. Her size 9-10 years dress is a struggle to get on and do up, she has to sit on a smaller chair so that she can get her legs under the table, she has recently found it difficult to join in activities with the other children because she was physically incapable of getting up or down something, her packed lunch recently on a trip consisted of a white bread sandwich with ham, a packet of crisps and a big bar of chocolate. She is a well looked after, very loved (good close family), bright, pleasant girl. But I can't help but worry that this is a very slippery slope for her. I think that if she is this big at 5 years old (twice the weight of her peers) then she is going to struggle with her weight for the rest of her life. Things like diabetes are going to be a real possibility and although the other children in her class don't seem to make an issue of it now, I worry that as she goes through school, life will just get more difficult for her and her weight will make her miserable. I have mentioned it to the class teachers, who agree that it is not a good situation, but I'm not sure they are prepared to do something about it. Clearly it's not neglect as she is cared for, cleanly turned out, loved by a close family unit, but surely it's not right to do this to a child.

OP posts:
bubbles1112 · 24/05/2012 20:20

Why isn't it neglect? I think that's a terrible state for a 5 year old to be in...for all the reasons you have said. If a child was significantly underweight alarm bells would be ringing. I think it is very hard for the school to intervene but there seems to be a failing in her parents of some sort.

ReallyTired · 24/05/2012 20:24

Surely this is a matter for the school nurse. There could be all kinds of reasons that a TA doesn't know about for a five year old being profoundly obsese. Maybe there are medical issues that you aren't aware of.

FallenCaryatid · 24/05/2012 20:40

'Maybe there are medical issues that you aren't aware of.'

If there are medical needs, the teacher, the TA, the school office and the preschool report should all reflect them. The school nurse is your best port of call.

treefumaster · 24/05/2012 21:28

poor little girl. Agree school nurse. Assume your school does the routine weigh and subsequent letter to parents if there's a problem but these seem a bit official and might not get the right response.

bubbles1112 · 24/05/2012 21:30

You have to get parents consent to weigh kids. I imagine her parents would want to avoid this....

jomidmum · 24/05/2012 21:33

Should you really be posting about an individual child on a public forum?

molschambers · 24/05/2012 21:36

Surely, if the child is as big as you say OP, the parents will be well aware that she is very overweight. If they aren't prepared to take the initiative and do something about it then I can't imagine what the school can do really. I think you need to take a step back.

FallenCaryatid · 24/05/2012 21:43

jomidmum, you do realise that the OP has used no names or identifying features about the child or the school, and that there are hundreds, if not thousands of obese reception children out there?

Feenie · 24/05/2012 21:45

That last bit is so true.

jomidmum · 24/05/2012 21:47

Yes, I do realise that, as I can read ok. I just think it's completely unprofessional to post about individual children on a public forum, asking for advice. It's about professionalism, not confidentiality. The OP should know the proper avenues to turn to, not ask for any strangers opinion.
Just my opinion.

BackforGood · 24/05/2012 21:48

Really jomidmum ? The OP isn't giving a child's life story, or name or name of school, or town or county or anything - she's saying "in a situation like this, what would you do ?"
Yes, you are allowed to ask questions like that.

jomidmum · 24/05/2012 21:51

I'm quite surprised at that......certainly in most other public service employment, it is not allowed.

FallenCaryatid · 24/05/2012 21:52

Some of us strangers have decades of experience with similar issues, MN isn't just for chit chat and froth. OP is worried about a child, is not confident that the teachers will do anything. Presumably the teachers have been aware of the situation for months.

FallenCaryatid · 24/05/2012 21:52

So how do the TES forums work then?

Feenie · 24/05/2012 21:59

There are a few teaching forums where teachers ask advice. We don't exist in a vaccuum, you know - and sometimes it helps to ask, as long as you don't identify, and the OP didn't.

jomidmum · 24/05/2012 22:03

No worries, I still have my opinion of posts like this. In many areas of healthcare, for example, discussing work situations outside of the immediate work environment is a disciplinary offence. I'd be rather upset if my kids situations were discussed on a public parenting forum; even when unidentified.

Feenie · 24/05/2012 22:05

May I suggest not venturing into Primary Ed very often then, since it happens all the time, usually from parents. Smile

FallenCaryatid · 24/05/2012 22:06

She's a HE AFAIK Feenie, so her children are safe from the likes of us.

jomidmum · 24/05/2012 22:06

I don't have a problem with parents, but I do with staff! But then I'm not particularly pro-teachers generally Smile

Feenie · 24/05/2012 22:08

Even more reason to avoid Primary ED, it's usually stuffed to the gills.

jomidmum · 24/05/2012 22:10

And yes I do take responsibility for the education of one my children, the other I have placed into the hands of state employed teachers for 6 hours a day some days.

Floggingmolly · 24/05/2012 22:19

If the lunch provided for her school trip is in any way representative of her general diet (large bar of chocolate and crisps for a severely overweight child?) then even if there are underlying medical issues, her parents are hardly helping. Whether they're just clueless or don't care enough to help her, it certainly does come under the heading of neglect.
The school nurse should have a word.

chocolatecrispies · 24/05/2012 22:25

I work in healthcare and I have never heard of asking for advice outside the workplace being a disciplinary offense, as long as no identifying info is given. In fact we have supervision outside our workplace, with people who do not work with us. I fairly frequently discuss cases anonymously with peers for advice and support. In this case there is no way this little girl could be identified, the information given is very general and non-specific.

jomidmum · 24/05/2012 22:29

It is disciplinary in many professions if it's on a public forum.

Floggingmolly · 24/05/2012 22:59

jomidmum. Calm down, it's a whole big world out there Hmm
Nobody knows who the op is, she hasn't named the school, the child, the parents... There is no identifying information contained in that post for either the child to be recognised or the op disciplined (!)
Try proving in a court of law that the child in question is actually Molly McCarthy from Doncaster - do you think you could? Or could you prove it isn't?