Weighed by strangers at a vulnerable time

Teacher Florence Taglight (left) argues that teachers and parents should opt out of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP).

SCHOOLS automatically opt into the NCMP – a programme that will see year 6 children being pulled out of their lessons to be weighed by strangers. I watched my pupils line up one behind the other with their shoes and socks off and stand on a cold, metal weighing block.

At the beginning of 2023 referrals for under-18s with eating disorders were up 82 per cent compared with two years ago. More than a quarter of children who are a ‘healthy weight’ are on a diet. Yet we still bring in nurses to calculate the body mass index (BMI) – a value derived from the mass and height of a person – of four-year-olds and 11-year-olds when the latter is also under pressure from every direction in their lives.

Many schools – and parents – are not aware that they can opt out of NCMP. What struck me most was how other staff responded when I expressed my dismay about this happening and asked a senior leadership member if we could let parents know they can opt out. I had known these children for two years, watched them get smartphones, suddenly obsess over Tiktok dances and stop wanting to do PE because they didn’t want to have to get changed at school.

I was met with fatphobic comments from other staff – some of whom I believe meant well. “Surely we should make sure the children don’t get fat if we can.” “But some parents won’t know that their child is too fat and could help them now before they start secondary school.” When did the worst thing someone could become is fat?

Reasons to opt out of the NCMP n BMI – this is an equation made up by a white, male mathematician, sociologist, statistician and astronomer in 1830 that does not take into account gender, muscle mass, a child’s heritage or ethnicity – all of which have a strong link to body shape and size. This would be like using Morse code (also invented in the 1830s) to communicate with someone in America today. n Worth – I have seen many parents begin to worry less about their child’s grades and more about their progress and behaviour at school. This was something that I experienced as a child. Fortunately, I came home with my report card and my parents read the comments about whether I was trying my hardest and being kind and polite in class before reading my grades or scores. We are taking steps backwards if we are now sending a letter home to parents telling them their child’s weight. n Judgment – these measurements we are sending home do not consider whether the child has lost a parent, a pet or if someone in their family is sick. They don’t take into account if their parent has an eating disorder, or is putting pressure on their child to look a certain way. The people weighing these children do not know if their weight is something that already keeps a child up at night watching #WhatIeatinadayvideos.

If you are a head teacher, a teacher, a parent and reading this and you think of someone you once knew who stared at the nutritional information on the back of food packets, or always went to the loo after eating, or obsessively ran on a treadmill, I urge you to opt out, or at least make the right people aware of how harmful this is.

Find out more

n Body Happy has resources, templates, letters and advice: bodyhappyorg.com/play-not-weigh n Discuss this issue with Florence at @growthnotgrades n What do you think about the NCMP? Email educate@neu.org.uk