[Brad Lockyer]

Would you allow your son or daughter to be weighed regularly by the school nurse?

A proposal put forward by the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) wants school nurses to weigh students and identify those at risk of obesity. The ACN says it wants to encourage the “normalisation of collection and discussion of height and weight data of all children” to help students maintain healthy body weight and exercise levels.

While obesity is undoubtedly a serious health issue, particularly for children, the proposal does seem a bit invasive. And kids are kids, how will larger children be treated by their peers if they’re subjected to regular weigh-ins?

Dr Zali Yager, executive director of body image advocacy group The Embrace Collective, told the Sydney Morning Herald that focusing on a child’s weight, rather than their overall wellbeing, can have harmful psychological effects.

“I support the idea that ensures every school-aged child has access to a qualified nurse but suggest that this should be to support their health, not focus on their weight,” she said.

She also said the push is at odds with what we’re seeing in schools around the world.

“The US is currently rolling back their widespread BMI screening programs because they were not helpful in changing weight, but very harmful for children’s psychological health.”

What do you think? Would you allow your child to be regularly weighed by the school nurse?

[Barbara Smith]

I am 87 now. In NZ, I was checked regularly by the Plunket Nurse [as were my children]. Aged
4 1/2, I was taken to our local GP who did a full “pre-School” check – height, weight, teeth, physical, cognition & social abilities. The GP gave my Mum paperwork to give to our suburb school’s Headmaster when she enrolled me. We didn’t have a School Nurse nor did we have a Dental Clinic but I was automatically enrolled and called into the free town Dental Clinic annually from then on. We had gym/sports at school, a large play area, basketball court, & a footy field [where our Air Raid Shelter was not far from our school swimming pool. Gym & sports were an important part of our school day. Everyone did gym & learned basketball or football sports. The best kids made the teams that represented us at weekend Sports. Bikes were an accepted method of getting to school if you had one. [I had great practice for racing especially if I thought I might be late for Assembly – I didn’t have a bike until I went to the Intermediate School in town – a couple of miles on the flat round the western end of the hill provided great exercise!] The town Dental Clinic still catered for us.
2 years later – Girls High School was up near the top of the hill which was between our suburb & the town. Biking up the hill kept us fit, sometimes, we took the road from our suburb around the eastern base of the hill to where a shorter & steeper road got us up to the back entry to the school & Sports field. The Gym mistress kept a very stern eye on our uniform length, hair length/tidiness & health. We were transferred to a real Dentist either in town or closer to where others lived in the suburbs. This was a free service until the day we left school. When I eventually went to be a Nursing Student at the Hospital up on the western end of the hill, we had regular weight/?pregnant, hair length/tidiness, deportment & basic health checks. Any problems & we were referred to one of the hospital doctor’s clinics.

[Author]

Posts