I have 2 children in primary school, DD age 10 in year 6 and DS in reception, we've recently had a letter from the local authority stating they will be weighing and measuring children in yr6 and reception. I remember this from years back when DD first started school and there were no issues.
DD is tall and very slim, she does look different to a lot of girls in her year because quite a few of them are developing breasts and are carrying a lot more fat than her. She's always been very slim but is very active and eats healthily, her ribs are visible but she's not bony but we do struggle to find her clothes that fit, I tend to buy her slim fit trousers as the regular ones look like clown trousers and she wears an age 8 with the adjustable waist pulled in on skirts, I put this down to the changing shape of children more than her own body shape as I was exactly the same at her age. It's probably genetics as when I was a teenager I was on a weight gain programme through the GP, weekly weigh-ins and had to drink this horrible orangey stuff daily to help me gain weight etc.
I am overweight, by quite a lot, I never diet, probably should do but I remember being literally forced to sit at the dinner table until I'd finished a meal and that has carried over into adulthood. I never push my own weight concerns onto my DD and never force her to eat when she doesn't want to, she eats really well anyway, as an example she had 2 extra helpings of home made soup at 5 this evening and she still had room for a bowl of porridge and some fruit at 7pm.
Tonight at bedtime she's admitted that she's really worried about being weighed at school, is she going to be declared underweight? Are we going to get a letter home about her weight? She said that a lot of the girls at school have made fun of her because she doesn't have "shapely thighs" and "had nothing to put in a bra yet" FFS she's 10! This is all a bit alien to me, a few of my friends have received letters following previous weigh ins regarding their children being overweight when their children look really healthy and have excellent diets. DD has told me that she'd like to opt out of the weighing procedure because she's worried that they'll say she's underweight and will think there's something wrong with her.
I'm constantly reassuring her that she's perfect, not too fat, not too thin, she'll get boobs when she's a few years older etc but it's awful to see her reduced to tears and worrying that her friends will see her bringing home a letter about her weight when I know theres nothing wrong. Should I just call and opt out for her sake or is it important that she's included in the "averages"?
Sorry this is so long, didn't want to drip feed.
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DD increasingly worried about the weighing/measuring taking place
22 replies
jennieflower · 10/10/2013 22:40
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