childrens bmi

well ive just arrived home to find a letter from the local health department,all children in reception class in the wigan area are having their height and weight monitored to help with childhood obesity.Well according to them my 4 year old daughter is overweight ,she is in the 95 centile (she was when she was born)so really she is just the same as always,ive never heard of such crap in my whole life ,what is this world coming too,oh and ive just calculated my 9 year olds and shes the same baring in mind she is as tall as the average 13 year old and wears a size 5 shoes ,so bmi is just as stupid for children xxx

I agree with you Lil , just putting more pressure on our kids! My youngest , aged 10 would defo be high as she's tall and big built in a size six shoe.I'm only little but she takes after her dad. I would be fumin if she came home with a letter saying she had a high bmi, would encourage eating disorders in my opinion.

I know I checked my son's today and he has always been in the 95 percentile since birth and he is also classed as overweight! What a load of rubbish. My son is 3ft 9 inches and is not even 6 until July!

Whatever - children's BMI - what they trying to do make all children anorexic?

Well Millies bmi would make her anorexic bearing in mind she was born at 2lb 7!! Very silly xx

I can understand the need to combat childhood obesity but this is taking that step too far. Trying to generalise childrens bmi is ridiculous - what might be overweight or obese for one child could be perfectly healthy for another.

BMI in children shouldnt matter anyways - you can tell by looking at a child whether he/she is overweight - so if these people took 5 minutes to look at these children instead of sticking them into groups than there would be no problem

My youngest would be underweight...but he is very small for his age and has always been in that category ....As long as they eat healthy i don't take much notice of it!! They dont have much chocolate (unlike there mum used to oops) and get pleanty of exercise.
Schools should concentrate on their dinners, they have improved them, but they don't coax the kids to eat them if they wont eat it they just bin it!! my little one was coming home having no dinner till i switched him to pack lunches (healthy ones) now hes fine as we try everything i make at the weekend to get the struggle over with before school

BMI measurements should not be taken in children - I can't see that they would be correct as there is such a massive fluctuation of height amongst young people. If I had received that letter Lillie I would be contacting the school and making it quite clear that I didn't consent to my kids taking part. I am sure they couldn't do anything without your say so. Much more important for our kids to be healthy and be starting to adopt healthy eating habits - not labelled and put into categories. Its difficult being a kid enough as it is. Julia XX sorry for my mini rant - it makes my blood boil when local authorities make these decisions. xxx

i recall being weighed and measured years ago in Junior school and the humiliation for the fatties. I thought they had stopped all that, like Nitty Nora and the school dentist.

I've got to say I don't agree with schools doing this at all!
Children shouldn't have to worry about their weight, there's enough pressure from their peers as it is.
What schools should be doing is encouraging children to eat healthily and be active, whatever their size.

I Agree With You All, My Son Is 7 And Wears 10-11 Year Old Clothes And Is A Size Six Shoes While Others Are Just Coming Into Size 4 And Wearing Correct Age Clothes. He Is Skinny But Very Tall For His Age. I Never Have A Problem With Him Coming Home In Another Childs Clothes After P.e Cos As Soon As He Puts It On He Can Tell!!! Bless Him!!