Fat police put a heavy burden on youngsters
WE don’t have the National Child Measuring Programme in Scotland, which is a relief really, given that it sounds like something Dr Mengele might reject for being a bit on the extreme side.
What we do have, however, is a nationally implemented programme which involves weighing and measuring every child in primary one and calculating their BMI as a way of deeming them overweight or healthy. It’s very similar to the NCMP in England and Wales, only without the scary name. This is all well and good, as far as it goes.
You don’t have to go far in this country to f i nd evidence of a deeply entrenched obesity problem, and all the strains it places on society. We need to be vigilant if our children are getting fat, particularly if they’re being fed nothing but chips and Haribos when they go home at night.
But I do wonder if we’re going about this the right way. Take four-year-old Jack McKenzie, for example. Jack is a sturdy, healthy little boy who eats lots of fruit, swims regularly and goes to school every day on his scooter.
Under the National Child Measuring Programme he was deemed ‘ overweight’, with his BMI in the 96th centile, meaning he is heavier than 96 per cent of children of his age. Heavens to Betsy! Get that boy on a low-fat quinoa and goji berry diet immediately!
There is, of course, nothing whatsoever wrong with Jack. He’s just a little boy, and not all little boys are built the same. In fact the only thing that’s wrong with Jack is that at the age of four – four! – he has been told he’s fat.
Now I’ve never suffered from anorexia, but I’ve seen what happens to those who do. I’ve seen how it emaciates human beings into little more than walking skeletons, and imprisons them THE BBC, in its infinite wisdom, is launching an interactive website to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, matching up emojis s uch as l ove hearts or smiley faces to Shakespeare quotes.
The Beeb claims that the aim is to make Shakespeare ‘irresistible to all’. Call me crazy, but isn’t the whole point about Shakespeare’s popularity t hat he has been irresistible to all for centuries – without an emoji in sight? within their own minds. It is a disease that literally eats away at you – at your s el f - r espect, your dignity, your self-worth, and your body, until there is barely anything left. It is, quite simply, a killer.
No one knows this more than 37-yearold Emily McKenzie, who suffered with anorexia throughout her teens and at the age of 16 weighed an absolutely terrifying 3st 10lb. Today she has recovered, and is now mother to – you guessed it – little ‘overweight’ Jack.
She is understandably horrified that her son has been labelled fat. ‘Who knows what impact this could have on him?’ she asks. Quite.
Children today are more aware than ever of their body image. Thanks to Instagram and other social media platforms they are constantly encouraged to share pictures of themselves, and comment on those of others. There is probably more pressure on today’s teenagers to look a certain way than there ever has been in history.
Which makes me think about all the little four-year-olds out there who, by using the outmoded and often inaccurate BMI scale, are being told they are fat. What sort of state are they going to be in by the time they reach 16?