I’m fuming I got a school letter saying my 5-year-old is ‘obese’ – she’s skinny & eats healthily, BMI is a broken system
A MUM has been left fuming after receiving a letter from her daughter’s school calling the five-year-old “obese”.
Samantha called the BMI (Body Mass Index) system “utter bulls**t” after her little girl Summer came home with the letter.
Holding up the piece of paper in a video on her TikTok page, Samantha explained it was as crumpled as it was because Summer’s dad had screwed it up and put it in the bin when he saw it.
As part of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), children in England in Reception (aged 4 to 5) and Year 6 (aged 10 to 11) are weighed and measured annually.
The figures are then used to “monitor trends in childhood obesity and inform public health policies”.
Parents are also notified if their child is either over or underweight.
Although, in Samantha’s case, the letter informed her that, using the BMI scale, Summer was coming up as “obese”.
It went on to give the mum “a whole lot of information about feeding her a better diet and healthy eating”.
Hitting back at the “joke” of a letter, Samantha shared a video of her daughter on the monkey bars at the park, as she said: “This is her the other day.
“Not only would I say she’s not obese, she’s skinny.”
Samantha went on to slam the “outdated” BMI system – which uses an individual’s weight, height and age to calculate whether or not someone is a healthy weight.
She added that amid the obesity crisis in Scotland, where she lives, she supposes it’s “positive” that steps are being taken to combat it.
However, she insisted: “Surely common sense has got to come into it somewhere where they’ll look at a child and say she’s clearly not overweight or obese?”
Samantha added that the “biggest kick in the teeth” about the whole situation is that Summer is the healthiest of all her children – and chooses things like omelette or yoghurt and fruit for breakfast over sugar-packed cereal.
“So it’s a bit devastating the thought of her ever finding out that people have said this and trying to give me advice for her to eat healthier,” she sighed.
Luckily, Summer is “completely oblivious” to the letter.
But Samantha added that if her daughter had been told about it at school, it would have been “another matter altogether”.
She concluded her TikTok video by reflecting on her own struggles with her weight, as she said she’s “worked so hard” to ensure her kids all have a healthy approach to food and their own body image.
How do you work out your BMI, and what do the results mean?
THE BMI (Body Mass Index) is a calculation that's made using someone's height and weight.
To work out your BMI, you first need to note your weight in pounds (there are 14 pounds in a stone).
Once you have that, divide the answer by your height in inches (there are 12 inches in a foot).
Then, divide that answer by your height in inches again.
That will give you your BMI.
If you have a BMI of under 18.5, you are “underweight and possibly malnourished”.
If it’s between 18.5 to 24.9 , you “have a healthy weight range for young and middle-aged adults”.
If it’s between 25.0 and 29.9, you’re overweight.
And a BMI of over 30 means “you are obese”.
While BMI has long been used as a measurement within the NHS, there have been calls to abolish it for some time now, as it doesn’t “take into account muscle mass, bone density, overall body composition, and racial and sex differences,” researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania.
“So, aye, BMI can go in the bin,” she raged.
And people in the comments section of the video were equally shocked by the letter.
“They need to bin whole BMI system,” one wrote.
“OMG THIS IS SO DAMAGING,” another shouted.
“How is this allowed?”
“BMI was meant for adult men, it was never designed to measure health in general, but especially not the health of children!” a third insisted.
“Nah this is absolutely shocking, and not to mention so so scary,” someone else wrote.
“I’m still stunned!” Samantha replied.