Cruel to Be Kind: Part 2 of 3: Saying no can save a child’s life. Cathy Glass

any problem.

      ‘Excellent.’ She returned the ophthalmoscope to the desk and, looping her stethoscope around her neck, listened to his chest and then his back. ‘His chest is clear,’ she said and made a note on the form for the medical that Jo had sent. ‘Now, let’s measure you,’ she said to Max. ‘Can you take off your shoes and stand just here for me?’ She took the few steps to the height recorder as Max leaned forward and began struggling to take off his shoes. It wasn’t that he lacked the motor skills to undo the Velcro and pull off his shoes, but the fat around his middle stopped him from leaning far enough forward. I helped him and he padded across to the doctor. She gently placed him in front of the height bar and then lowered the ruler so it was just touching his head. ‘Three feet, eleven inches,’ she said. ‘That’s average for his age.’ She went to her desk, made a note on the form and then returned to Max. ‘Now, let’s weigh you. Stand on here, please.’ Max stood on the scales. I watched and waited. I knew he was overweight, but I had no idea by how much. It came as a huge shock. ‘One hundred and nineteen pounds,’ she read out. ‘That’s eight and a half stone – more than twice the weight he should be.’ Then, as she walked to the desk to record the figure, she frowned. ‘Do you realize that’s the weight of the average fourteen-year-old? Perhaps the social worker will do something now.’