A radical strategy by the British Government to tackle the nation's childhood obesity appears to have the support of experts in Australia.
As a part of the British government's anti-obesity campaign, plans have been revealed for schools to weigh children at the age of 4 to 5 and again at 10 to 11, details of the children's height and weight will then be sent to their parents along with advice about whether the child's weight is unhealthy and information on healthy diets and exercise.
Details of support services will also be provided and families who remain reluctant to allow their children to be weighed, will be encouraged by schools and primary care trusts to fully participate.
The strategy has been prompted by the increasing numbers of British children who are now overweight or obese and fears on the part of health experts that parents are unable to recognise whether their offspring's weight is within a normal range.
According to the latest figures from the UK, 10% of children aged 4 and 5 are obese and another 13% are classified as overweight - 17.5% of 10 and 11-year-olds are classed as obese and a further 14.2 per cent overweight.
The situation has caused so much concern that the government says parents will now be automatically informed about their children's weight, unless they particularly specify that they do not want this information.
In previous years this information was available to parents from the National Child Measurement Programme if they requested it, which allowed many parents to ignore the problem.
There is also the suspicion that others may have kept their children away from school on measurement days, which means the shocking figures could be an underestimation of the full extent of obesity levels.
The plan is for the data from the National Child Measurement Programme to be collated anonymously in order to provide the most accurate picture of childhood obesity rates.