Obese in Britain

When our children came home from school, I would give them a glass of milk and a couple of biscuits to keep them going.Our DGC have the same.
The main problem now is not so much the foods that are at fault ( unless they live on take aways and sweets) but a lack of excercise, and this goes for adults as well as children.
GP’s sensible diet advice ‘ eat lesss and move about more’ !

my D has just had a letter from school declaring that my GD, 10yrs) is overweight. She is 5ft tall and weighs 8st 4lb with a BMI of 18

Exactly the point I was making about “charts” jayelld . Sometimes they fail to see the full picture . How on earth could you expect a group of children of the same age to all fall into the same weight bracket without taking their height and fitness levels into consideration ?
I think you can just tell by looking if a child is overweight . Weight/height/ fitness levels all need to be considered not just some chart or other.

My DDiL was once in receipt of two letters telling her that one child was overweight and one underweight.

The underweight one still is. He is of a that very slight, almost fairy build and not a big eater - just like one of his DGF's a tall thin rangey man, with a small appetite. but he is full of energy and loves playing football.

DGD build is exactly the opposite, tall, broad shouldered and sturdy, a very good ballet dancer, there isn't an ounce of excess fat on her.

In fact neither letter is correct, the charts they use just do not take into account the variability of shape and build.

It sounds to me that there is too much ill-informed tick-boxing going on. Children may vary for many reasons.

Some may be theoretically overweight or underweight and yet still be perfectly healthy. Others may be within the permitted range yet be surviving on an unhealthy diet.

Best just let the situation carry on then. Obviously no problem exists and all is well.

I would have been so angry if I had had a letter from the school commenting on my child's weight. Far too Big Brother for my liking.

I shall duck behind the sofa but!!!!

You do not need a chart to see that a child/teenager/adult is overweight.

A body needs fuel to give it energy- too much food, no energy used = weight gain.

Obviously health problems and medication change the above.

None of my kids was overweight, but I am massively overweight, and so are 2 of my grandchildren, brother and sister. My eldest daughter is disabled by rheumatoid arthritis, lives on crisps and sweets, not many "proper" meals, she weighs just under 6st and looks awful. I don`t over eat, can`t exercise as I have mobility problems, and weigh much, much more than her.

No needs to duck at all ^grannygravy* I totally agree with you .

No one is saying there may not be a problem Anja but charts, tick boxes and letters to parents are not going to solve anything .

gilly No one is saying there may not be a problem Anja but charts, tick boxes and letters to parents are not going to solve anything
The school nursing service is part of the NHS and exists to promote the health and wellbeing of all children in state schools.
If a child is examined and there’s a significant finding relating to a child’s health, the service has a duty of care to inform the parents of that finding.
Remember that many parents aren’t as well-informed or health conscious as you.
The service would be failing in its safe-guarding role if it didn’t send out letters.
If you and your AC don’t want your GCs to have any contact with the service, it’s simple - withdraw consent.

Gonegirl: I would have been so angry if I had had a letter from the school commenting on my child's weight. Far too Big Brother for my liking.

Parents don't always know what is best for their children. Schools do have a duty of care. Would you have been just as angry if you had received a letter informing you that there was a concern at school about your child's hearing/vision?

Greta, considering we had to work it out for ourselves that our son is colour blind, after hearing from him how the teacher mocked him in front of the whole class for colouring a picture of my face green, I would have been surprised more than anything.

Thank you Jane you’ve had the patience to make the point I should have made had I not been annoyed at ‘this is Big Brother’ rubbish.,

The idea that a school takes it upon itself to issue these letters shows just how little people understand.

Gonegirl Oddly enough I had a pupil who coloured a horse green. I asked him what colour he thought it was and he said chestnut! I had him tested for colour blindness and it confirmed my observations. I was surprsed he was 11) that his parents hadn’t picked up on this before.

I don’t disagree with you janea but you are missing my point ( or else I am making it badly which is probably the case) . Charts are fine but they are very often misinterpreted . I have experience of this . You simply cannot judge weight as an average across the board without taking height and lifestyle into consideration (which they tend not to do ). My eldest DGD 13 and tiny for her age ( way below any charts ) she is very sporty ( think the build of young female Russian gymnast ) she still has the body of a little girl. Whereas her best friend is very tall and extremely matured . How can any chart explain this ? Are either of them ill? No, are they starved, overeating, overweight, underweight ? No, not at all but “the charts” disagree .

I had four children, all came within 5 years, all fed and reared the same. But second baby was the chubby one, and stayed chubby, now in 40s and obese. All had the same tastes in food. Don’t understand it.

You are absolutely right about the need to take height etc into any consideration gillybob. It seems crazy that it is not done.

I guess the government feels it has to be seen to be doing something, and they rightly decided that children should be identified as possibly having problems at a young age, but it seems as if the way it is done was badly thought out.

It isn’t JenniferEccles . They don’t even measure babies anymore so a “tall” baby could be classed as obese when in fact it is much longer than many other babies and perfectly in proportion.

Charts are fine but we have to learn to read between the lines and take other factors into consideration when interpreting them.

Of course the ‘charts’ take height into consideration. Did someone think they don’t? ?

They no longer do Anja . Without going into too many details by 13 year old DGD has just undergone a fairly rigorous medical ( not because she is poorly ) . The “charts” said she was very underweight for her age ( no consideration of height and lifestyle) and they took a lot of persuading that she was “under tall “ . They don’t even measure the length of babies anymore they just weigh them and measure the circumference of their head . My baby granddaughter is quite “tall” for 9 months . Her daddy is tall as are his siblings and their children .

www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set2/chart-04.pdf

My DGD is in the 2nd percentile ( in other words not on the scale at all)

Annaram1, and on this ‘sad programme’ had the bridegrooms stayed lithe and slim?

Gilly are you sure that is the table that is used?
It’s American.
www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/national-child-measurement-programme/
It says here that children are both weighed and measured as part of the National child measurement programme.

If your GD is on the 2nd percentile for weight/age, it doesn’t mean that she is ‘off the scale’. It means that out of 100 girls of the same age, 1 will weigh less than her, and 98 will weigh more.
BMI is the indicator used to compare weight and height and is a general guide, not an infallible rule.
Obviously you are quite happy that your GD is well nourished and healthy, but being underweight for age/height could be an indication that a child has a condition that needs investigation, or is being neglected at home and it’s only right that the school nursing service alerts parents and arranges referrals to GPs and other service providers.

I know how the percentiles work thank you janea in fact you may recall we used them to our absolute advantage during the secondary school appeals .

I wasn’t suggesting this was the actual chart used just showing how they no longer use height as a factor . Likewise in babies length does not factor.