Weighty consideration

Researchers from Loughborough University have warned that the Government's initiative to monitor the weight and height of primary schoolchildren could force the debate on childhood health to become too narrow.

While supporters say the tests will help to increase parental awareness of obesity, the academics - John Evans and Emma Rich from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences - believe the potentially damaging effect on the children themselves could outweigh the benefits. "Previous attempts to carry out this measure met with limited success because some parents refused to let their children participate and some children, girls in particular, refused to be weighed," said Professor Evans.