The NHS sent a letter to the parents of a healthy 11 year old girl which stated that the girl was overweight. She was in fact a healthy girl that was not overweight. The result according to The Daily Mail today is that she has stopped eating to lose weight. This is the first step on the slippery slope to anorexia or other eating disorders.
The girl in question had some joint problems which means that she cannot exercise intensively. However, at 5 foot tall and 110 pounds she is within the normal weight range with a BMI of 21.5.
This is not the first time healthy children have been told that they are fat by the authorities. Other boys and girls have appeared in the press after receiving these letters.
The solution must be that the government stops this scheme immediately. Fitness professionals know that to encourage people to be fit and healthy you need to work with them at a personal level. Why send a letter to a child’s parents telling them that their child is fat when you could arrange for a child to speak with PE teachers and discuss these issues in person?
Education needs a change in the UK. PE teachers now only teach PE, they teach the theory of health and exercise and supervise sports and fitness activities. But they do not mentor students. There is no counselling on weight issues or real encouragement to lose weight. Instead the relationship is cold and distant. David Cameron keeps talking about the “big society” and how people need to get more involved, while at the same time it interferes in ways that cause harm to child health. Time for change.
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