The update would be official letters from the school informing them of the status of their children's pounds, weight measurements and an idea where their child's weight is based on a sliding scale from underweight to very overweight.
The government opted to use the term very overweight in lieu of obese because most parents tend to switch off and pretend not to notice if the term obese is used. Another terms substitution to be used in the letter is physical activity in lieu of exercise.
Results of the measurements will be restricted, not even the children, school staff and other medical professionals could access the records. Parents must initiate seeking help if they want to address the weight concerns of their children.
But parents must agree first that their offsprings be weighed and measured. Otherwise it would go against Human Rights laws, said Dr. Will Cavendish, director of health and well-being at the Department of Health.
The soft approach of the program to addressing obesity was criticized by Tam Fry, chairman of the Child Growth Foundation. He said it is a mistake not to use the world obese and to rely on a sliding scale rather than providing parents the details of the body mass index of their children.
Fry told the U.K. Telegraph, "We have gone past the stage of being nice, we have got to bring people up short and tell parents, you child is obese do something about it or it will die before you do."
