Saunderton mum's upset at NHS weight check (From Bucks Free Press)
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Saunderton mum's upset at NHS weight check
8:00am Tuesday 27th July 2010 in
AN 11-year-old girl stopped eating after the NHS said she was overweight.
Patricia Callaghan was horrified to receive a letter from NHS Buckinghamshire which said her 11-year-old Chloe's body mass index results indicated she was 'overweight'.
She said she then started to worry when 7st9lbs Chloe, who had the test at Bledlow Ridge School as part of a national scheme, did not eat her packed lunch and did not want to eat any dinner.
Ms Callaghan, 37, from Saunderton said: “It is crazy that we are putting kids through this at the age they are. Her hormones are going rife at the moment and she is a developing little girl.
“We are breeding the next bulimic and anorexics. We want to cut all this overweight stuff on the NHS but we are going to pay out for therapy for bulimics and anorexics.”
To put her daughter's mind at ease she did an independent check on a BMI test machine in a shop which revealed her daughter was in the “normal” weight category.
Ms Callaghan, who also has a son called Ryan, six, added: “I thought I have had enough of it. She broke down in tears. She said I am fat and all this.
“That's why I did the independent check which has put her mind at rest a little bit.”
Children are weighed and measured at schools nationwide as part of the National Child Measurement Programme, and records the results of more than a million children.
The scheme is run by the by the Department of Health and supported by the Department of Education and say it provides better health services for children, and helps provide support parents.
Ms Callaghan said Chloe, who weighs 7st9lbs and is 4ft9 has cereal for breakfast, a packed lunch and a cooked meal when she gets home from school. She said she is always playing sports.
Spokesman for NHS Buckinghamshire Jenny Murray said the scheme is welcomed by the “vast majority of parents” and "although it it is not a perfect measure it is the best measure we have".
She said the BMI measure is plotted onto a graph for children and if someone uses a BMI measure for adults "they may well get a different result."
Ms Murray added: “We do recognise that BMI is not a perfect measure, and very athletic children with greater muscle mass may have a higher BMI. However, the letter sent out gently encourages parents to ensure their children eat well and take exercise – and if parents know that their child is leading a healthy lifestyle then there’s no need for action.”
Ms Murray said childhood obesity is a problem in Buckinghamshire, as it is nationwide.
Comments(24)
demoness
says...
9:11am Tue 27 Jul 10
There are ways to find out - surely not in front of other children who can be very cruel. :(
Plus ça change...
says...
9:18am Tue 27 Jul 10
You only have to walk round the shops to see that people are 'bigger' than 20 years ago.
Even people working in health roles seem to follow the same size pattern regardless of the fact you would assume they know better than the rest of us.
Maybe such information should be much better explained to parents themselves before overloading a young person with a formal report?
At that age I'm not sure I would have handled it that well either.
Seasence1
says...
9:38am Tue 27 Jul 10
ferrellcat
says...
9:41am Tue 27 Jul 10
demoness
says...
10:20am Tue 27 Jul 10
ferrellcat wrote:And there are lots of children ( sorry kids are baby goats) who think they are fat when they are not.
Get over it. There are lots of kids that are told they are fat because they are fat.your not so why are you spitting your dummy out when you dont have the problem(if it is a problem). I would have kept the school lunch and dinner and made her eat it when she ended her strop,and no pocket money for a month.its a harsh world get real not everything you hear in life is nice
Do you know ANYTHING about eating disorders? God what an ignorant post FC - I am surprised at you to be honest.
TheT0nemeister
says...
10:22am Tue 27 Jul 10
demoness
says...
10:30am Tue 27 Jul 10
TheT0nemeister wrote:NO???
I really can't see the big deal about this. If a child is overweight you can actually do something about it, there are correctable measures. Its only the lazy that moan about it as they think society has to do them a favour.
Well perhaps you are thinking of a serious overweight child. BUT at 11 years old girls are hitting puperty and there is such a thing as puppy fat which most children lose.
It would be a cold day in hell before I ever let my children go through the state health programme. Hell I wouldn't even let them see the school dentist - they had their own and went every six months.
TheT0nemeister
says...
10:57am Tue 27 Jul 10
demoness wrote:demoness your comment is valid, however I think you need to read the article to the end before jumping your own gun and basing assumptions on yourself rather than the collective. This is obviously a measure to raise awareness and the letter clearly states that if parents know that their child is leading a healthy lifestyle then there’s no need for action.
TheT0nemeister wrote: I really can't see the big deal about this. If a child is overweight you can actually do something about it, there are correctable measures. Its only the lazy that moan about it as they think society has to do them a favour.NO??? Well perhaps you are thinking of a serious overweight child. BUT at 11 years old girls are hitting puperty and there is such a thing as puppy fat which most children lose. It would be a cold day in hell before I ever let my children go through the state health programme. Hell I wouldn't even let them see the school dentist - they had their own and went every six months.
Melanie1
says...
11:28am Tue 27 Jul 10
.
I don't understand why every child has to go through this test. Do schools not have a nurse anymore? If they do then surely the nurse could send a private letter home with any child who is overweight instead of using the BMI method which is far from perfect.
.
We've all seen the pictures of fat children and I mean obese not mildly plump. It's not rocket science to notice the overweight child and deal with him/her and would probably be far more effective than alienating every parent and child whose child is fit and active but has a higher BMI than the chart allows for!
wayneo
says...
11:35am Tue 27 Jul 10
demoness wrote:Exactly and BMI has long been discredited by leading dieticians and doctors for years. BMI is a poor indication as to health, many people who appear thin, have their organs encased in fat, fat on the inside is far worse to ones health than fat on the outside so-to-speak.
ferrellcat wrote: Get over it. There are lots of kids that are told they are fat because they are fat.your not so why are you spitting your dummy out when you dont have the problem(if it is a problem). I would have kept the school lunch and dinner and made her eat it when she ended her strop,and no pocket money for a month.its a harsh world get real not everything you hear in life is niceAnd there are lots of children ( sorry kids are baby goats) who think they are fat when they are not. Do you know ANYTHING about eating disorders? God what an ignorant post FC - I am surprised at you to be honest.
Tellling a child that they are fat (especially when clearly they are not), is akin to a hue-and-cry of old, a label that will do more harm than good over a longer period.
These idiots who state "get over it" i am quite sure, would be screaming blue murder were it their children who were being labelled in such a way.
For me, the best indication of health is not cosmetic, but is one of pulse and blood pressure, most people don't know what their blood pressure is but blood pressure will tell yo much about your current health.
MadaraUchiha
says...
12:12pm Tue 27 Jul 10
demoness
says...
12:29pm Tue 27 Jul 10
Perhaps you could tell me who these leading doctors are?
Name names perhaps.
Oh and dietitians too - could you tell me who they are?
wayneo
says...
1:01pm Tue 27 Jul 10
ANU statistician Professor Ross Cunningham
Richard Telford is research director of the Lifestyle of Our Kids study, Commonwealth Institute
professor Eric Oliver
Dr. Sari Fine Shepphird, PhD
Cathy Nonas, MS, RD,
among many others
Blueberry
says...
1:22pm Tue 27 Jul 10
.
But giving the media the girl's photo and telling the world that her "hormones are going rife" is possibly worse.
.
Far better to have kept the complaint in official channels and kept the girl's privacy.
Low_Wycombe
says...
1:58pm Tue 27 Jul 10
I blame the parents by the way...
Wendoverman
says...
3:18pm Tue 27 Jul 10
There is a problem with obesity nationwide...just look out of the window...if this girl is eating properly and playing sports then she could simply ignore the letter. I would like to have seen a photo of the parents, as often that is something of a pointer to the way the health services are thinking! There's nothing that upsets a porky parent more than someone pointing it out.
There are two sides to this of course.
I know people who work in health who are sick of listening to fatties on government funded programmes to reduce their child's weight claiming the kid who has just put on four pounds has 'only been eating salads...honest!'
bonkers2010
says...
3:23pm Tue 27 Jul 10
bonkers2010
says...
3:32pm Tue 27 Jul 10
bonkers2010 wrote:And just to add ,,,, all children were measured for weight ,height etc, none of the children were given their results .. the results were in the letter . which was addressed to the parent not the child my ,friends child is overweight ,, she got the same overweight result letter . she DID NOT tell her child he was overweight .. she chose to encourage him to eat more healthily .. sparing the childs feelings
Firstly I got a letter from my childs school from nhs about my child BMI . considering the letter was to me I read it .. My child did not read it ... so i guess its the mothers fault for making this child feel like this as the mother had a choice to tell her daughter she is overweight by calculation .. or simply realize that an 11 yr old girl is not emotionally strong enough to deal with this kind of thing and dont tell her but change the way you eat as a whole family .. cutting out some things , introducing more healthy options .. reducing the childs weight without her even realizing .. the solution is what they dont know cant hurt them
montero
says...
3:37pm Tue 27 Jul 10
Vke85
says...
4:31pm Tue 27 Jul 10
I think by making this story public it highlights the pressures young girls and boys have on them. In a world where everyone idolises Cheryl Cole, growing up with your image must be so tough.
Perhaps the Mum should not have told the child, but then this issue would not have been highlighted. I think it was very brave really.
wayneo
says...
5:23pm Tue 27 Jul 10
montero wrote:I disagree, i think it was right of the mother to bring to our attention the behaviour of public bodies. The fact that our health service is basing health on weight alone, should send alarm bells ringing, the fact that they have defined somebody fat without conducting further tests, is unforgivable and wrong. The BMI test is a health test on the cheap, being thin or fat does not make one healthy.
Unbelievable on all fronts. a) the child isn't overweight so the NHS should not have sent the letter saying she was and b) the mother has used poor judgement by telling the child and making it public.
Wendoverman
says...
4:12pm Wed 28 Jul 10
This is a Daily mailish knee-jerk mountain made out of a local molehill.
I hear the NHS are refusing treatment to people who wear England shirts, as well.
March on the Department of Health now!
kassa7
says...
8:01pm Wed 28 Jul 10
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tigeran says...
8:34am Tue 27 Jul 10