Weighing kids at school

[Ian H]

What's the point?

They go on about pressure put on kids by having photoshopped models on all adverts and then they go and decide to weigh them in school.

I have an 11 year old daughter who didn't want to go to school on weigh in day because she didn't want to do it. Thinking back I should have let her have the day off but she went in and did it.

Now we have a letter saying 'your child is overweight'.

She eats healthy, is very active but is a bit chubby, that's just her shape. Her sister was exactly the same and once she shot up at 13/14 she lost the chub and now at 19 she is naturally slim.

Me and her mum are 37&38 and are both 'normal'.

I'm not one for wrapping them in cotton wool but FFS, telling a kid who knows they are chubby that they are overweight is pointless and out of order. I won't be showing her the letter or changing her lifestyle.

Rant over.

 

[pete50]

I agree with you but ranting about it on a piddly little forum like this will not get things changed.

 

[Ian H]

Ranting about it anywhere wouldn't get things changed.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Did you and she not know her weight before the school weighing?

What difference does it make?

It might be embarrassing if done with the whole class watching and the weight shouted out but I doubt that was the case and, even then, they have all seen her.



What if they measure her height?

 

[Ian H]

No, we don't have scales at home so don't know how much any of us weigh.

It makes no difference at all, that's my point, it just adds unnesesary pressure.

They did height as well but it was the weight which made her feel uneasy.

 

[Tigercubrider]

It is an NHS strategy, not a school one.
It's done at school as they tend to be good places to find loads of kids - like imunisation.

The aim is to get data on the population, rather than the child, although they calculate a BMI and inform the parents if they think that there might be a need.

The measurements are supposed to be done in private.The school isn't supposed to have the info.

 

[Bosswhite]

Havent they always weighed children at School,

I remember being weighed as a child.

 

[durhamplumber]

so many fat kids...living on crap food.they should be weighed..

 

[durhamplumber]

What's the point?

They go on about pressure put on kids by having photoshopped models on all adverts and then they go and decide to weigh them in school.

I have an 11 year old daughter who didn't want to go to school on weigh in day because she didn't want to do it. Thinking back I should have let her have the day off but she went in and did it.

Now we have a letter saying 'your child is overweight'.

She eats healthy, is very active but is a bit chubby, that's just her shape. Her sister was exactly the same and once she shot up at 13/14 she lost the chub and now at 19 she is naturally slim.

Me and her mum are 37&38 and are both 'normal'.

I'm not one for wrapping them in cotton wool but FFS, telling a kid who knows they are chubby that they are overweight is pointless and out of order. I won't be showing her the letter or changing her lifestyle.

Rant over.

its not just her shape...she eats too much or exercises too little.or both...truth hurts.

 

[Iamchamps]

The recent story about a head teacher finding kids turning up at school with left other McDonald's and stuff as there lunch I think goes hand in hand with this post. If you think your child being fat is healthy how will you know any different unless someone tells you. Personally I think schools, works, job centres should do this to everyone maybe it will open people's eyes and make the population fitter. While I appreciate it can lead to upset in the people being weighed all results should be private and shared only with the individual or parents in the case of children.

 

[securespark]

DP: Charming.

There are actually several hormonal imbalances that can cause weight gain and (as a double whammy) hamper the ability to exercise by inducing fatigue and listlessness.

So, not only do you gain weight, you have immense difficulty losing it.

It's not a simple case of calories in vs calories out.

 

[Iamchamps]

DP: Charming.

There are actually several hormonal imbalances that can cause weight gain and (as a double whammy) hamper the ability to exercise by inducing fatigue and listlessness.

While I accept there are cases like that, many many people blame a medical condition or something when a lot of the time it is just plain laziness and eating crap.

 

[Ian H]

I can assure you that's not the case here.

She plays football 2 nights a week, dancing one night, act/sing/dance on a Saturday. Family walks at the weekend, plenty of meat, veg and fruit. Very rarely any McDonald and not excessive on sweet stuff.

She does have another unusual thing in that she has a patch of what appears to be alopecia on the back of her head. That will be on her mind but doesn't bother her too much because her hair is long and you can't see it. She is due to see a dermatologist about that soon.

Anyway, I'm not saying she is super slim or that they are wrong. If she was proper little fat thing, it would be obvious for all to see so why the need to weigh?

 

[Brigadier]

It's not a simple case of calories in vs calories out.

Of course it is, unless you believe in things like perpetual motion as well.

 

[big-all]

to be honest we need to know what is contained in any communication written or orally to form the correct opinion
weight would possibly be mentioned in "general health check up "way
with perhaps hearing sight weight height mentioned as areas covered
now as a 12 year old weight is often a big issue often associated with teasing so one kid may go home saying they want to check my eyes another says they want to check my hearing
it could be as simple as the bit that bothers them gets mentioned not the whole picture