In a bid to solve the national problem of obesity, schools are being targeted as the first step towards a healthier lifestyle, with 'weigh-ins' for children suggested. Dan Kendrick has a look at some of the issues surrounding weight checks in schools.

OBESITY rates have trebled in the last 20 years and the days where fast food culture was only found in America have long since gone.

Most people attribute the sudden boom in the condition to technological advances that have left us more sedentary.

We drive rather than walk or cycle, we spend a lot of time sitting in front of computers, and we shop, bank, and research at the touch of a button.

In a bid to stamp out the trend, nutritionists and child health experts have called for children as young as five to be weighed and monitored at schools.

It has been met with a mixed reaction.

"The first thing to note is that we can not prevent an obesity epidemic, we already have one," said Ian Campbell, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, established in 2000 to tackle the problem.

"In theory the idea of checking children in schools is good. My concerns are who's going to do the checks - they will have to be trained medics - and what's going to happen thereafter?

"It's great to raise the awareness of the problem but there's no point in just telling children they are fat because that will stigmatise them and lead to further problems."

Mr Campbell agreed that school was the best starting point, but there were many ways of tackling the issue other than 'weigh-ins'.

"In order to address the problem we need to encourage school-aged children to be more active and avoid unhealthy food," he said. "We need more health education at schools, as well as promoting physical activities beyond the school playground."

Ruth Chiva, Worcestershire County Council's head of services to schools, agreed that alternative methods were a better way forward.

"We are, of course, concerned about the health of children but also anxious about 'weigh-ins' because we don't want to risk embarrassing them," she said.

"Overweight and obese children can be the victims of bullying, and we don't want to stigmatise them with individual checks.

"What we have is personal and social health education, science, food and technology and PE lessons to promote healthy living, and there is also a responsibility for the wider community."

But Sue Mason, headteacher at Nunnery Wood Primary School, in Prestwich Avenue, Worcester, backed regular weight checks as a method to promote children's health.

"I think it's a good thing if schools co-operate with the health services," she said. "If the checks were done in a sensitive way they are to be encouraged.

"Let's face it, some children do have problems and we must not ignore it. If we can help with the tests then we should."

The issue of weight problems among schoolchildren was highlighted in 2001 by the case of five-year-old Georgina Beauchamp, from Tewkesbury.

Georgina, who weighed five-and-a-half stones, hit the headlines after the headmaster of her primary school wrote to her parents expressing concern about her weight.

Her parents later withdrew her from the school.

But in Boston, Massachusetts, schools already carry out compulsory weight and fitness checks, which are included in end-of-year school reports.

Parents who received the reports are twice as likely to acknowledge their child's problem than those without, the study has revealed.

Britain also has summer camps for overweight children, and we could once again be following in the USA's footsteps by introducing compulsory weight tests.

"If we could take the evidence from American schools and apply it to a British context, it could help us prevent overweight problems at an early age," said Professor Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Taskforce.

"The truth is that the diet of the vast majority of British people is atrocious."

Compulsory ''weigh-ins'' would be based around the BMI - body mass index - which is still the gold standard for determining obesity.

It is calculated by taking weight in kilograms and dividing it by height in metres squared. A score over 25 is considered to be overweight and over 30 to be obese.

And the issue is a serious one, as results of obesity can include:

n Depression

n Low self-esteem

n Hypertension

n Musculo-skeletal problems

n Breast cancer and colon cancer

n Gall bladder disease

n Asthma

n Menstrual abnormalities

n High cholesterol

n Shorter lifespan

One in three British children are overweight, and, as a result, diseases that used to be restricted to adults have developed much earlier in life.

Dr Laurel Edmunds, a leading researcher at Oxford University, said it was a serious concern that children would die before their parents if the trend continues.

Weight checks in schools might seem a drastic step, but it would appear a small price to pay to secure the future health of the nation.