Calls for children to be weighed at school to make parents ‘accountable’ for obesity

Children should be weighed at school as part of a public health initiative, one TD has said.

Relaying the information back to parents will make them accountable for their children's health, according to Fianna Fáil spokesperson on children and youth affairs Anne Rabbitte, Early intervention is key to tackling obesity, she told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on children yesterday. Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast this morning, she said that schools can only do so much on the issue. "They’re trying to encourage people with water, milk instead of fizzy drinks, this is what we do here. "That is going on but it has to be done regularly and I do think if you have a targeted measured approach it will make parents more accountable for their children’s health. Weighing is simply a way of gathering data, she added. "It’s nothing wrong about weighing, we should take away the stigmatising of it," she said. "If you start early enough, if there are issues identified, when you’re doing it in a childcare setting where you can provide the information back to the parents about good eating and good exercise, you can work with the childcare workers in handing out that information." Defending her comments today on Twitter, Ms Rabbitte wrote that a culture change in how we deal with childhood obesity is needed.

I am seeking a cultural change with a holistic health approach. No point in policies & action plans we need early intervention for the wellbeing, physical & mental health of our children https://t.co/AApdEHLjdl

— Anne Rabbitte TD (@AnneRabbitte) September 27, 2018

A 2017 study found that almost one in three Irish children is now overweight. Nine per cent of girls and ten per cent of boys in Ireland are classified as obese, the data showed. Do you think weighing kids at school is a good idea? Let us known in the Facebook comments or on Twitter.