Slim girl who starved herself after NHS said she was too fat

A SLIM and healthy schoolgirl began starving herself after health bosses branded her “overweight”.

 Overweight Katie with her mother Joanne 'Overweight' Katie with her mother Joanne

Katie Owen, 11, is the latest child to be left distraught by a letter from the National Child Measurement Programme.

She burst into tears and called herself “too fat” when she saw her results from the NHS initiative to curb obesity.

Katie, from Dagenham, Essex, is 5ft and weighed 7st 12lb when measured in June, giving her a healthy body mass index of 21.5.

But last week’s letter from NHS Barking and Dagenham said this put her at the top of the healthy range and she was at risk.

Her mother Joanne said: “She is absolutely not fat.

“To put her through something like this when she is reaching such an important time in her life is just cruel.”

A spokesman for eating disorder charity Beat said: “It’s incredibly worrying when a child says they refuse to eat. It’s the first sign of an eating disorder. We are concerned about the policy of telling children they are overweight.”

In July five-year-old Lewis Mighty, 2lb overweight, was told to take up swimming. He is battling cancer.

And in February, 3ft 9in five-year-old Lucy Davies was told that at 3st 9lb she risked health problems.

NHS Dagenham public health consultant Dr Justin Varney said: “If parents, carers or the child concerned are worried about their child’s results, we recommend that they talk to their GP or practice nurse.”

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