My son had his height and weight checked as part of the National Child Measurement Programme today. He was annoyed and I was surprised that he was told his height, but not his weight. This wasn’t a local decision but National Guidance.
Whilst the parents of children outside of normal weight range are written to, about their child’s weight; telling children their height but actively withholding information about their weight sends an odd message. Both are objective measurements, but it is OK to talk about one, but not the other.
Reflecting, I can understand why this approach is taken, but it makes me wonder if we are too sensitive when it comes to obesity. Furthermore, where opportunities to support obese people are missed because it isn’t polite to suggest that someone needs to lose weight . . . ?
Image by Denis S Hurd through flickr, used under creative commons license