From September this year, parents of children who have been weighed and measured at school could automatically receive their child's results in a bid to get parents to be more aware about healthy lifestyles, and help their children achieve a healthy weight, Health Minister Ivan Lewis announced today.
The National Child Measurement Programme weighs and measures the height of all primary school children in reception class and Year 6 (aged 4-5 and 10-11). This year, the Government is urging Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to send parents the results so that parents don't have to ask for them.
At this stage, about 40 percent of local primary health care trusts have said they intend to automatically contact parents in the next school year, and a further 40 percent will decide when they see the new guidance issued today.
Today's guidance will help PCTs implement this new approach and includes example letters for parents.
Eighty per cent of schoolchildren - an increase of 32 per cent compared to the previous year - in Reception Year and Year 6 were weighed and measured in 2006/7.This national movement for change will enable every citizen in the country at every stage of their lives to get the encouragement and support they need to be healthy - from what they see on the television, to what they buy in the local supermarket, to the resources at their disposal in the local community, to how they travel to and from work or school, to the information and advice they get from health professionals.
The Government is calling on everyone - from the smallest community keep fit class to the biggest retailers in the land - to join in this campaign to change the way people in England live their lives.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/healthyliving
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