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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.

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Original poster

Did you get one of those National Child Measurement Programme letters and what did it say?

24 replies

PollyParanoia · 28/07/2009 14:09

My ds is in reception and was evidently measured as part of the National Child Measurement Programme. We got a letter saying he's in the healthy range etc but I thought it was interesting that rather than giving you a centile based on their weight (like those charts in the red book), you get a centile based on their Body Mass Index which seems far more accurate.
He's on the 28th centile which surprised me as I find it hard to believe that over a quarter of kids are skinnier than him (he's all bones and ribs). I found it rather reassuring since I'm always fretting about feeding him up. If you got a letter, were you surprised/reassured/shocked by what it said?

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BoffinMum · 28/07/2009 21:17

I was surprised that it said at the top of the letter "Helping you take action" or some such, when it said DS was in the normal range and 35 centile with a lowish BMI, therefore needing no action. It apparently assumes most kids are going to be overweight, demonstrating that they don't understand the basis of their own statistics.

FAQtothefuture · 28/07/2009 21:27

DS2 just finished reception - I just got the same letter from the school with his height and weight on it as I got with DS1 3yrs ago.........- with a bit scribbled in with pen saying he was all in proportion.

petelly · 28/07/2009 21:36

I was surprised - dd is in the 87th centile. 2 lbs more and she's be 'officially' overweight(91st centile and higher I think).

Not sure if I should be worried or not.

Everyone who I mention it to is also surprised because she doesn't look overweight but then research shows that parents don't recognise if their own children are overweight. The stats are also based on 1991 data so maybe we're just used to larger children now??

bodiddly · 28/07/2009 21:39

slight hijack .. does anyone know where i can check ds' bmi? He is 4, 109cm and 2st 10lbs

IdrisTheDragon · 28/07/2009 21:40

There are children's bmi calculators - I'll see if I can find one.

IdrisTheDragon · 28/07/2009 21:41

Here's one

IdrisTheDragon · 28/07/2009 21:42

Can't remember what DS's letter said but he is fine basically.

FAQtothefuture · 28/07/2009 21:50

hmm - that link reckons that DS2 is 3rd centile for his BMI - sorry but no way in hell is that right - unless all his shorter, skinnier school pals are below the charts???

And why didn't he have one of these letters???

bodiddly · 28/07/2009 22:33

thanks Idris. Ds is 11th centile for weight ...

Redazzy · 28/07/2009 22:40

I posted on this when I received my letter a couple of months back. My ds was 1 lb overweight. I was seriously upset until I got a bit of MN and RL perspective! Anyone I mentioned it to in RL was aghast. DS does not remotely look overweight. I know parents are blind to their ds as being anything other than gorgeous but I had loads of honest outside views. I can't explain the statistics except that when I measured and weighed him again after I got the letter, he had grown a couple of cm and lost a pound or two which put him into the normal range (but in the high percentiles).

bruffin · 28/07/2009 23:23

DD 11 is yr6 and was on 50th centile for her BMI. She is tall and skinny but curvy and well into puberty. Thankfully never had to worry about her weight, although she has tended to be on the thinner side, so the letter was reassuring.

bumpybecky · 28/07/2009 23:29

dd1 is in year 6 and according to their letter she's on the 2nd centile for weight (can't remember about height). She now thinks she should only eat pork pies, chips and chocolate

I knew she was skinny, it's so difficult to get trousers that stay up!

Original poster

PollyParanoia · 29/07/2009 08:14

But the thing is the "shorter, skinnier" wouldn't make any difference as it's bmi and so it adjusts for height. That's what I thought was interesting, that it could make a comparison on bmi rather than just weight or just height.
I also wondered whether we have different responses according to the genders of our children. If a son is "strapping" ie above 75th, do you think you're more likely to be pleased than if it's a dd. My dd2 is a minute, 2nd centile for weight, and I wonder whether I'm less worried about it because she's a girl...

OP posts:

geekgirl · 29/07/2009 08:27

ds is at the very top of the healthy range
he is very muscular and has a mini six-pack, and you can see his ribs on his back... there is no excess fat on him, yet if he'd had an extra weetabix that day and weighed 100g more, I would have had a letter telling me he's overweight.

Actually, I had the school nurse visit me yesterday because I'd got myself quite concerned about dd1 (just turned 10) who does fall into the overweight category and has done for years. The nurse took one look at her and said she looked absolutely fine and to stop worrying. She said the weighing in school is done to get an overall picture of the population, and isn't focused on the individual, and that it's causing huge stress and anxiety amongst parents. Apparently the letters are due to be reworded...

FAQtothefuture · 29/07/2009 08:33

I'm sorry - but there's absolutely NO WAY that DS2 is only on the 2nd centile. You telling me that he's on the bottom end of healthy?

2nd centile - no way if he's 2nd centile now (and healthy) - then if he were to work his way up to 50th centile - he would be overweight without a doubt.

He's very stocky, and because of the amount of food he eats I do have to keep and eye on him.

Sorry I don't trust that BMI calculator with a barge pole. Especially given the OP is saying that her DS in reception is all bones and ribs and apparently on the 28ths centile, while my fairly stocky DS2 who was also measured in reception and whose calculations I've used is only on the 2nd?

It's nothing to do with sex for me - it's common sense. I dread to think how "big" (outways, not upwards) DS2 would be if he were around the 50th centile for his BMI.

Thank goodness my DS's schools don't appear to be sending these letters yet. Just a simple "height is X" "weight is Z" (and yes all in proportion).

bruffin · 29/07/2009 09:21

It does make quite a bit of difference if you are using old measurements.

I put dd's measurements as if they were taken today and her centile went down from 50 to 43 centile and that was only 3 months difference

mimsum · 29/07/2009 10:45

oh lord I've just done ds2's and he's on the 1st centile

FAQtothefuture · 29/07/2009 11:03

bruffin - I adjusted DS2's birthdate to take account of the difference in time. Even now by my measurement he's still apparently only on the 2nd centile.

Well I'm not fattening him up any more

dee0468 · 29/07/2009 12:42

Mr dd was on 78th centile. i thought she was quite thin. Only a couple more pouds and she would be overweight. Crazy.

ShellingPeas · 29/07/2009 16:37

My DS has come up on the 0th centile, seriously underweight! Yes he is thin, but he eats like a horse, and he's also got very fine bone structure, and no muscles at all - basically he is your 9 stone weakling in the making!

My DD who is much more robust came up on the 6th centile.

Not convinced at all about how accurate this is as both my DCs are healthy and are rarely ill.

IdrisTheDragon · 29/07/2009 16:39

I only found the calculator

BoffinMum · 30/07/2009 13:42

I wonder how this data compares to that used by the Wii Fit? Slim DS2 who is near 50th centile is apparently overweight on that.

FAQtothefuture · 30/07/2009 13:44

lol @ Idris disclaimer

bruffin · 30/07/2009 14:04

The wii fit has adult settings for BMI which are different to childrens.

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