Parents will be told if their child has a weight problem under Government plans but letters home must not contain the word "obese".
The Department of Health is urging all primary care trusts (PCTs) to automatically tell parents their child's height and weight as part of a national measuring programme.
But ministers do not want the word "obese" to be used in the letters home after research showed people find it "highly offensive" - instead, the heaviest children should be referred to as being "very overweight", they said.