The Australian College of Nursing is calling for the “normalisation of collection and discussion of height and weight data of all children” to help tackle childhood obesity and encourage healthy weight maintenance through diet and exercise.
Under the proposal, school nurses would identify students at risk of becoming overweight by tracking weight.
The plan – calling for every Australian school student to have access to a suitably qualified nurse – has been met with criticism from body image experts, who weighing children can lead to stigma and shame.
But national director of professional practice at the Australian College of Nursing, Karen Grace, says nurses can play an important role in reducing the number of Australian children and teenagers considered over what is regarded as a healthy weight. Currently, 26 per cent of young people fall into this category.
“Nurses are perfectly placed to help identify when further help is needed and to refer to a GP or dietitian,” Grace says, adding that the plan is designed to help prevent chronic disease later in life.
More Australians are living with obesity
Grace believes the introduction of a regular screening program, that involves school nurses collecting students’ weight and height measurements, would allow those health practitioners to reach out to students and their families and offer support and help to achieve a healthy weight. The measurements would be fed into World Health Organisation-endorsed growth charts, which take different ethnic heritage into account.
The screening program would be adjusted according to each child’s age, with older children afforded privacy to help ensure they do not experience shame, adding that trained nurses could also help combat wight-related stigma.
“When you have a baby, you religiously weigh your baby to make sure they are growing… then we lose track of those measurements,” says Grace, adding that regular weight check-ups should be seen as “part of growing up”.
Measuring and tracking weight may lead to shame
Adjunct associate professor at the Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University, Dr Zali Yager, says weighing young people and identifying them as ‘overweight’ has the potential to lead to feelings of shame.
Yager, who is also executive director of body image advocacy group The Embrace Collective, believes the plan could also lead to psychological harm, eating disorders, avoidance of physical activity and healthcare, as well as weight gain.
“I support the idea that ensures every school-aged child has access to a qualified nurse but suggest that this should be to support their health, not focus on their weight,” says Yager.
“The US is currently rolling back their widespread BMI screening programs because they were not helpful in changing weight, but very harmful for children’s psychological health.”
School nurses already aim to promote healthy eating habits
Although 106 well-being nurses provide services to more than 400 public schools in New South Wales, the NSW Health Department guidelines state that population screening for health and development is not within the scope of that work.
Currently, all Victorian primary school students have access to a nurse through the state’s Education Department, while the Victorian Secondary School Nursing Program is also available to around two-thirds of the state’s public secondary school students.
Weighing and measuring of Victorian students was abolished from the school entrant health assessment almost a decade ago, with school nurses only weighing and measuring children if specific health concerns have been flagged by their parents.
“Victorian government schools have access to a range of teaching, health and well-being resources that promote healthy eating habits, increase students’ activity levels, and improve their physical and mental health and well-being,” a Victorian Department of Education spokesman said.
