The National Child Measurement Programme weighs and measures the height of all primary school children in reception class and Year 6 (aged 4-5 and 10-11).

Health minister Ivan Lewis is urging PCTs to send parents the results, so parents don't have to ask for them.

80 per cent of schoolchildren were measured in 2006/7. 40 per cent of PCTs plan to contact parents, with another 40 per cent deciding whether to do so on the basis of guidance published yesterday.

The Conservatives say that Labour has failed on a 2005 promise of a school nurse for ‘each cluster or group of primary schools and the related secondary school'.

In some parts of England, Labour has provided only half the number of school nurses it promised. The East of England is the worst affected, with just one school nurse for every two secondary schools.

neil.durham@haymarket.com

DoH's Healthy Living website

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