The little girl is not fat and mum should not have been sent a letter by jobsworths.

Both my son and stepson went through the following stages. They put weight on and then their height increased. This happened several times and both are nearly 6 ft and slim.

There is a real danger of children developing eating disorders and acquiring a loss of self esteem by being branded overwieght at such a young age. This state interference should be halted.

tall, slim Massai to the small people of the Kalahari.

Yes there is an obeseity problem which I believe is partly linked to food additives and the pills that doctors insist that we take. But to target slim, active children is stupid

- andrea preston, glastombury, 18/2/2010 18:22

Report abuse

This is from a goverment that has let the councils sell off hundreds of school playing areas.

- F Hews, Flintshire, 18/2/2010 18:20

Report abuse

I also recieved the same letter telling me my 4yr old was overweight.I did laugh tho when I looked at what his ideal weight should be and he is just 1lb over a so called healthy weight(the range being from 2st 10lbs to 3st 7lbs)

Reading the letter properly it’s clear that it is just spat out of a computer somewhere and the person who has weighed and measured and more importantly actually met your child has had no input as far as the letter is concerned

- Mandy, Nottingham,UK, 18/2/2010 18:20

Report abuse

My children both had this test carried out in the States, where obseity is an epidemic in the schools, fuelled by the parents who feed them junk food and do no educate or exercise. The same letter should have a disclaimer half way down that says, ‘if your participates actively in sports 3-5 times per week, this will increased muscle mass and influence their BMI, in which case, this figure is mute’.

Like someone mentioned above, the parents who don’t care and feed their kids junk food and don’t exercise will bin the letter anyway. The ones that do care, should know that if you exercise, you wiull put on more muscle, which ways more than fat and will effect those readings.

- KG, Surrey/USA, 18/2/2010 18:19

Report abuse

My “BMI” puts me in the overweight range, but I’m not overweight. I have muscle and this often causes problems with BMI calculations. When I first saw that I am overweight according to BMI, I asked my doctor if I really am overweight and he set me straight. I’d hope that any parent receiving a letter about their kid would do this too!

- Rob, USA, 18/2/2010 13:42

I don’t think small children Lucy’s age get muscle in the way you mean as they are still developing. Lucy’s mum is slim and that is the best indication of all that she has a good chance of being slim too when she grows up.

- Christine, Co. Antrim, 18/2/2010 18:10

Report abuse

This just points out the flawed system that is the BMI. It only considers very basic perameters and does not consider bone density or muscle mass. To use this system on small children is ridiculous! I am not denying that there is a very real obesity problem in this country, yet an experienced health proffessional could use another very useful diagnostic tool to judge such matters. They are called eyes!

- Jayne, Gravesend,UK, 18/2/2010 18:06

Report abuse