Weight Management For Young Britons

In a bid to arrest the rising trend of childhood obesity among Britons, the government has announced a new initiative, called the National Child Measurement Program. According to this initiative, the height and weight of all children in the first year of school, aged four or five, and again in the sixth year, aged 10 or 11, would be tabulated and reports sent to parents about the status of their children on a sliding scale, from underweight to very overweight.

This is a definite change in trend, considering that until now, parents had to acquire this information from the local health trust. Parents would not receive information about body mass indexdefine, and the wording of the communiqués to be sent to parents would be carefully scrutinized so as to avoid unnecessary panic and/or hurt feelings.

For example, parents could be told their child was overweight or very overweight, instead of ‘obese’. The word 'exercise' has also been substituted for 'physical activity' in the letters, which again would be circulated in strict confidence. The motive is to urge parents to take notice and seek help if necessary. Leaflets on healthy diet, 'physical activity' and the health risks associated with being overweight would also accompany the official letters sent out to parents.

Speaking about the initiative, health minister Ivan Lewis said, “It’s clear from research we’ve done that parents want to know their child’s results and whether there is a concern about their health. But they want clear information which is non-stigmatizing and helpful. Research shows that most parents of overweight or obese children think that their child is a healthy weight.”

Lewis added, “This important move isn’t about pointing the finger and telling parents that their children are overweight, instead it’s about equipping parents with the information they need to help their children live healthier lives.”

Will Cavendish, director of health and well-being at the Department of Health, said, “Nine out of ten parents of overweight children think their child is a healthy weight. We have chosen not to use the word obese. There is no point giving parents a letter that doesn’t have any impact.”

The new program also gives parents the option of bypassing the weight management regimen. Dr. Cavendish said that the government is bound by Human Rights legislation in this regard. He said the government has to execute a balancing act between being a ‘nanny state’ and being a ‘neglectful state.’
There have been strong reactions to the government stance. Most have stated that more stringent measures need to be undertaken and alleged that the administration is trying to soft-pedal through a potentially dangerous issue looming over the land.

Data gathered so far shows, on an 80 per cent sample, that 22.9 per cent of four and five-year-olds and 31.6 per cent of ten and eleven-year-olds are overweight or obese.

Tam Fry, Chairman of the Child Growth Foundation and board member at the
National Obesity Forum, said, “We have gone past the stage of being nice, we have got to bring people up short and tell parents, your child is obese do something about it or it will die before you do.” He also criticized the Human Rights laws, which give scope to parents for opting out of weight management.

Matthew Sinclair, Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said, “This new program is another example of the Government’s muddled thinking when it comes to public health. It seems that they are perfectly happy to set up grand, expensive schemes using taxpayers’ money but don’t have the backbone to follow them through properly.”

Tories claim the new campaign is doomed to failure because there are not enough school nurses. However, four out of 10 health trusts have agreed to the plan.

It is hoped that the present program, coupled with other measures like restrictions on advertising, the healthy food initiative in schools and encouragement of school sport would spell out better health for British citizens in times to come.