How can this boy of four be labelled clinically obese?



NHS say football-mad Logan is at risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes

Healthy diet: But four year-old Logan Knowles has been labelled 'obese'

He loves riding his bike, plays football every day and always eats his vegetables.

So four-year-old Logan Knowles’s mother was stunned when she received a letter from the NHS saying he was ‘clinically obese’.

The letter warned that the little boy was so ‘overweight’ he was at risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

At 2st 12lb, Logan is three pounds outside the recommended weight range for his age, which is between 2st 1lb and 2st 9lb.

Logan’s mother Stefanie Mrozowski, 29, said she was ‘furious’ he had been labelled obese, explaining: ‘It’s ridiculous – there’s nothing of him.

‘He is the smallest in his class and if anything he’s quite skinny for his age. He still wears clothing labelled for a three-year-old even though he is nearly five.

‘He runs around constantly, loves riding his bike and playing football, and always eats a healthy diet. There’s not an ounce of extra fat anywhere on his body.’

Hundreds of children have been sent letters informing them they are overweight or obese since the controversial child-measurement programme started.

Eating disorder charities have described the letters as a ‘scare tactic’ that could have damaging effects on youngsters vulnerable to eating disorders.

Miss Mrozowski, of Darlaston, Walsall, said she and her partner Luke, 33, a fire technician, had not been informed that Logan was going to be weighed at school earlier this month. Two weeks later they received a letter in the post stating that he was ‘very overweight’ for his age, adding: ‘Doctors call this clinically obese.’

It went on to list a string of risks associated with obesity, including cancer and heart disease.

The stay-at-home mother, who also has two daughters Taiyla, 11, and Sydanie, ten, said labelling children obese while they were still growing was ‘dangerous’ and could lead to them developing eating disorders.

‘Kids these days have enough pressure to be the right size from magazines and TV,’ Miss Mrozowski said. ‘They don’t need it at school as well.

‘After she was weighed, my eldest daughter came home saying, “Mum, I’m the thinnest in my class”. I was furious. She is 11 years old.

‘I don’t want my kids coming home talking about how much they weigh, or thinking it’s some kind of competition. This is just a complete waste of NHS money and should be stopped.’

Miss Mrozowski wrote to her local NHS trust to complain. But the Walsall child-measurement team said that, although weighing children was a ‘sensitive issue’, it was important to identify children who were at risk of ‘growing into overweight or obese adults’.

Sharon Jones, of the National Child Measurement Programme, said: ‘I fully understand what a sensitive issue this is for children and their families.

Warning: The NHS letter sent to Logan's mother earlier this month

Shock: Logan's mother Stephanie Mrozowski said her son runs around constantly and loves riding his bike and playing football

‘Over a third of children in years four and six are either overweight or obese nationally, and this is also true for Walsall.

‘Children are not growing out of their “puppy fat” like they used to a few decades ago and it is more likely that they will grow into overweight or obese adults if they are shown to be that at this age.’