"Today nearly a third of children aged 2-15 are overweight or obese." - Gov.uk
Beth Pike, a 25 year old mum of two from Swindon, was confident she was bringing her four year old son up leading a healthy and active lifestyle, until two months ago when she received a letter informing her that her son is 'very overweight'.
The National Child Measurement Programme has been measuring children’s BMIs (body mass indexes) across the country since around 2006. The programme involves measuring the height and weight of primary school children from ages 4 – 5 and 10 – 11. This is to review overweight and obesity levels.
“I was mainly just really offended and quite angry actually..."
Beth was unhappy with how impersonal the letter was and felt it was an attack on her parenting.
“I was mainly just really offended and quite angry actually. The fact that I received a letter, there was no personalisation, not like a sit-down chat with the teacher or anything, it was just a letter through the front door basically just saying he was ‘very overweight’.”
Working with the NHS, the programme is the Government’s way of tackling the issue of child obesity. An Ofsted blog reported:
"By the start of primary school, almost a quarter of children in England are overweight or obese. This rises to over a third by the time children leave year 6."
Beth talked about Ollie’s active and healthy lifestyle:
“Ollie does a lot and eats healthily, so a letter like that is quite offensive when I try so hard to make sure that he does have a good diet and exercises regularly.”
The NHS website states that parents are notified before the tests on their children are carried out and have the choice to opt out of the programme when they like.
Beth added that Ollie found out about the results and was affected by the news.
‘Oh no I can’t have that I’m too overweight.'
“Ollie over heard me speaking to other people about it and he became quite self-conscious about what he was doing. Even now he’ll say, ‘Oh no I can’t have that I’m too overweight.' It did affect him and he was quite upset about it.”
The mum of two thinks that schools should be doing things other than the BMI tests to encourage children to be more active and eat healthier.
“I think there’s a lot of other things schools could do instead of testing BMIs. Maybe they could promote healthy eating through homework, and just trying to get us involved in it, in a less offensive way try and promote healthy eating and exercise.”
There are limitations of the BMI tests, the NHS explains:
"Your BMI can tell you if you're carrying too much weight, but it can't tell if you're carrying too much fat. The BMI can't tell the difference between excess fat, muscle, or bone."
Alongside The National Child Measurement Programme, in April 2018 the Government brought in the Soft Drinks Industry Levy or ‘Sugar Tax’, as part of the attempt to tackle child obesity.
Schools have been benefitting from the Healthy Pupils Capital where the money collected from the levy is being put into physical education, healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing and medical conditions in schools. This could include things such as; dining facilities, playgrounds, sports facilities and changing rooms.
"£100m of revenue generated from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy will be provided in 2018- 19 for the HPCF." - Gov.uk
Derek Piper, 24 year-old primary school teacher, doesn’t see BMI testing in schools as a bad thing.
..."childhood obesity in becoming an increasingly large concern.”
“I’m not against the idea of BMI testing in primary schools. One of the core responsibilities of a school is to look after the physical health of the child under its roof, add on top of that the fact that childhood obesity in becoming an increasingly large concern.”
The NHS says: "For children and young people aged 2 to 18, the BMI calculator takes into account age and gender as well as height and weight. Overweight children are thought to be at increased risk of a variety of health conditions, and they're also more likely to be overweight as adults."
Mr Piper feels ideally the information should be discussed with the parent and child face to face if possible.
“If the testing shows that one or two children are at risk of obesity, then I think that one-to-one chats with those parents would be the route to go down. If the problem is more widespread then it just may not be feasible to have personal conversations with that many parents, in which case a letter could be one of the better options.”
He added: “Obviously, the best means of communication on anything like this is to talk directly to the parents and children whenever possible.”
The 24 year-old believes teachers have a big part to play in how the children feel about healthy eating and exercise.
“The teachers need to buy into the idea themselves – children are never going to take diet and exercise tips from a teacher who is clearly not putting in any effort themselves.”
He feels there is more schools can do and that parents and teachers should work together.
“The approach should be ingrained into every day routine with the children. They should be encouraged whenever possible to be active in both their play and their work.
“I think that schools need to get the parents on board. Sending a letter saying children need to exercise is all well and good but it will be much more effective if you invite the parents to come and get involved…Games, clubs, whatever it is, the parents need to see their children enjoying it…”
Although, 21 year old trainee primary school teacher, Claire Fisher, thinks BMI testing primary school children is an, 'unnecessary stress', for both teacher and child.
It is clear there are benefits from the BMI tests, but perhaps the strategy of this method needs some re-thinking and schools could look at what else they can do to help get children eating better and moving more.
We contacted the Department for Education for a comment on Beth Pike's situation and asked whether they feel the method of delivering BMI results in this way is appropriate - but we did not receive a response.
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