A young mum was shocked after receiving a letter telling her her four-year-old daughter was overweight.
Lauren Ormesher, of Skelmersdale, is campaigning for an end to BMI weight checks after she got a letter saying her daughter Maggie was overweight following a weight check at school. Maggie, 4, who dances every week has recently been crowned the 'petite' Lancashire winner of a national pageant celebrating diversity called Miss Diamond UK.
Lauren, 32, told LancsLive she'd discovered many other parents had the same ordeal after posting about the incident online. She said: “We got a letter home saying she’s overweight – I put a post up on Facebook and it turns out a lot of kids all over the country got this letter saying they’re overweight.
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"It’s nothing to do with school - a lot of parents had it and had received letters; one was from South Wales and some were from London area and all over the place. Our letter was addressed to the parent or guardian of Maggie, and it said she was overweight according to their test."
But health bosses in Lancashire said the measure is just one of the services they provide to ensure young people maintain a healthy weight and active lifestyle. Lauren said: "I was quite shocked as she’s a very healthy child and to see the word overweight seemed crazy. Then I felt angry at the damage a letter like this could do to such young children."
The body mass index is a measure that uses height and weight to work out if a person's weight is healthy according to the NHS. The letter received by Lauren is from from the Lancashire Healthy Young People and Families' Service, run by HCRG Care Group.
Lauren has started a petition calling for an end to BMI checks due to concerns that parents could restrict their children's diets. She said: “My concern was that some parents might put their kids on a diet and they develop eating disorders, and all the stress that this entails.
“Maggie is quite active - she goes Morris dancing once a week, and she's not overweight or anything in the slightest. It’s about spreading awareness. A lot of people are not happy with the BMI weight checks. There are alternative methods of keeping children healthy rather than weight checking them.
"Most medical professionals will say it’s not accurate; it’s quite damaging really - they’re telling healthy children that they are overweight or obese. The end goal is to stop it completely. If they’re going to do health checks it needs reform. They need to get rid of the inaccuracy of it.
“I don’t want to equate being healthy with going on a diet and this will definitely have an effect on their mental health. It was quite overwhelming that most parents felt the same way, that they do not feel like the BMI weighing is something that they want their children to have in school.”
Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, Lancashire County Council's director of public health, said: "The National Child Measurement Programme is part of the Government's plans to improve young people's wellbeing and gather data relating to their health. We commission HCRG to deliver the programme in Lancashire.
"This is one of the services we provide to support the families of 0 to 19-year-olds, which help to ensure young people maintain a healthy weight and have an active start to life. Body Mass Index (BMI) is one of a number of indicators of people's health, but every case is different and we'd encourage any parents with concerns to contact their school nursing teams for help and support."
A spokesperson for HCRG Care Group said: “The National Childhood Measurement Programme is a national scheme which we deliver in Lancashire on behalf of Lancashire County Council. As part of the programme, we write to parents whose children the programme identifies are either under or overweight for their age, sex and height to access to free support and guidance.
“Whilst we do understand it can be upsetting for parents to hear that their child has been measured and identified as overweight or underweight against the national target range, we hope they appreciate the information is intended to help identify where positive changes can be made and provide the support to make those changes.”
