The Public Health Wales Observatory has published the findings of a study to explore the feasibility of a national measurement programme of children’s heights and weights.  

This study was run in 457 Welsh schools to test the feasibility of measuring all children in reception year and year 4 to identify trends in childhood heights and weights.

The key findings included:

• Existing data systems could be adopted to support a national heights and weights measurement programme.
• Many parents and children were happy with the process, but it was clear that improvements could be made if establishing a national programme, in particular with regards to communication.
• The study confirmed existing concerns about the prevalence of overweight and obese children, with 22 per cent of children in reception year measuring as overweight or obese.  In Year 4, 26.4 per cent of children in the opt-in group and 28.5 per cent in the opt-out group were overweight or obese.  The definition of overweight and obese was based on International Obesity Task Force thresholds.

The report is available to download from the Public Health Wales website.