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.