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Child Measurement Programme for Wales


The Child Measurement Programme for Wales measures the height and weight of children in Reception class.

We want to learn how children in Wales are growing so that NHS Wales can better plan and deliver health services.

Public Health Wales is responsible for the coordination of the Child Measurement Programme and every health board across Wales is taking part in the programme.

Table of contents:

How the programme works

The school nursing team will measure and weigh every child in reception class unless their parents have opted the child out of the programme. 

Parents can request that their child is weighed and measured but that the results are not used as part of the Child Measurement Programme.

Health board staff enter the information into the child’s computerised health record.  

At the end of the school year, the height and weight results are sent to the Public Health Wales Observatory who will analyse the data and look for trends at a local level, at a health board level and nationally to learn how children are growing.

The data is sent in such a way that individual children cannot be identified by the staff who receive the information and are responsible for analysing it.

Which age group is included?

At present all children attending reception year (aged 4/5 years) will be offered weight and height measurement.

Why has this age group been chosen?

Measurements taken in reception year will be comparable with measurements taken in other parts of the UK and in particular the National Child Measurement Programme in England.

Aren’t children already weighed and measured in schools?

Yes. However, before the establishment of the Child Measurement Programme, this was done in different ways in different areas. Children were measured at different ages, with different equipment and the results were recorded in different ways.

Because of this, it was impossible to get a uniform picture of child growth across Wales. Now that the Child Measurement Programme for Wales is in place, children are all weighed and measured in school using approved equipment,  and the results are recorded using the same computer form across the whole country.

History, legislative framework and technical aspects

The document below gives the history of the Child Measurement Programme for Wales (CMP); information about how the programme is run, including the legislative framework that underpins the CMP and technical detail about how the information is analysed and presented.

Further information

Reports

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Data

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Resources