“Look sweetie, this letter says you’re fat!!”
Fit Girl | Jul 25, 2010 | Comments 0
In an initiative to combat the increasing incidence of childhood obesity, parents are being sent letters informing them of whether their child is of a healthy weight, or not. This caused some concern last week as some parents were angry that their child was labelled ‘overweight’. One such child was Bailey Russell who is just recovering from cancer and has successfully gained weight after being painfully thin. Yes, this was an administrative error and in this instance the letter should not have been sent out. Other parents thought it appropriate to share the information about their child being overweight, with their child. Really clever parents, real smart!
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), established in 2005, is part of the Government’s work programme on childhood obesity and allows for analysis of trends in growth patterns taken from children in Reception and Year 6. The measurement is taken from the child’s BMI (body mass index) which is a measure of healthy weight based on height, age and sex. The accuracy of BMI is not 100 percent as muscle mass and many other variables are not taken into account. Basketball player, Michael Jordan was indeed obese in his prime according to the BMI, but it’s pretty obvious that all of his lean muscle tipped the scales. But sadly, the general population are not built like Michael Jordan, and for the general population, the BMI may be used as a general indicator of healthy weight. It’s not gospel, but it’s fairly useful.
The reality is that we have an obesity problem with 1 in 3 children obese by the age of 11. So where do we go with this problem? We believe parents should be informed if their children are overweight or indeed underweight, and they should equally be able to reason if their children are borderline obese, or are tall for the age, or any other factors that may bias the results. The real problem lies in the fact that a lot of parents don’t actually realise that their child is overweight. A 2008 study from the Department of Health cites that only 12 percent of parents with overweight or obese children realise that their child has a weight problem. And so it is necessary for parents to be informed that their children are not of a healthy weight, and also of the consequences of that.
There was also concern as to whether sending out such letters would cause eating disorders if a child is told they are overweight. The letters are sent via post to the parents, not the children, and so it would appear sensible for the parent to slowly adjust any necessary changes to food and activity levels rather than telling the child they are being put on a diet because they are overweight! The letters also come with leaflets about how to make these healthy changes. The good news is that the rise in childhood obesity is levelling off, so programmes such as this are hopefully doing their job.
Related posts:
Filed Under: Health
