PARENTS have hit out at a new scheme to tackle child obesity in parts of Bolton, claiming some children are wrongly being labelled “overweight”.

But it has led to complaints from some parents who claim their children are being incorrectly labelled — and they warn it could be “damaging” to some youngsters who suddenly find they are being labelled “obese”.

Paul Boardman’s daughter, Libbie, who is 4ft 2in tall and weighs 5st 5lb, was described as being at the top end of the overweight category by NHS Bolton, bordering on clinically obese.

Libbie has a body mass index centile of 97.

Between 91 and 97 is overweight category by NHS Bolton, bordering on clinically obese.

Mr Boardman, aged 43, of Ramsay Avenue, Farnworth said: “I do not know how they can be saying that she is overweight.

“If you look at her, you will say ‘where the heck have they got that from?’ “I have taken her to the doctors and was told the numbers are right, but they told me not to worry or do anything because she is fine.”

He said this could be dangerous and children may worry about their weight unneccesarily.

He added: “She has been saying things like she does not want any tea. She eats a balanced diet with rice and pasta. She doesn’t have junk food, just the odd treat now and again.

She is active and is a rough-and-tumble type.

“I think this scheme is rubbish and could be massively damaging. If they are going to do it, they need to tailor it to the individual, not just put numbers into a computer.”

He added that he had spoken to other parents who were equally upset. It is understood that there have been at least four complaints about the scheme from parents of children at Highfield Primary School, where Libbie attends.

The initiative was launched in a bid to tackle the high obesity rate in parts of the town — one in three youngsters are overweight when they reach the age of 11.

Every child in primary schools in Farnworth, Little Lever and Kearsley is being weighed and measured under the scheme.

Health chiefs last night defended the programme and stressed the need for action to tackle childhood obesity in Bolton.

A spokesman for NHS Bolton said: “A few children might show up as underweight or overweight when they are actually perfectly healthy, but, in most cases, the classification is correct, and BMI is recommended by experts as the best method we have.

“It can be very difficult to tell whether a child is overweight just by looking at them—especially since so many children are overweight these days.”