Headteacher slammed for '˜fat-shaming' pupils at a Milton Keynes school

Dr Huw Humphreys, head of Christ the Sower Ecumenical Primary School, sent a newsletter to parents stating: “Our children, overall, are fatter and more obese than other children in Milton Keynes.”

Urging parents to walk them to the Grange Farm school, he added: “They could really do with a lot more exercise.”

One parent said: “It is simply not acceptable for the head to fat-shame our children - particularly when this is supposed to be a Christian school.”

After his controversial statement, Dr Humphreys wrote an explanation in another newsletter.

He wrote: “One parents asked me to apologise ... because the term “fatter” could be seen as offensive.

“I am very sorry that this hurt people and had no intention at all of causing offence by using the term. However the issue itself is critical. We can’t ignore it.”

Dr Humphreys (pictured) went on to explain that all pupils are weighed measured to calculate their BMI when they enter reception at the age of four.

At this stage just 15 per cent of the 400 Christ the Sower children are deemed overweight or obese - far less than the average for MK.

But by the time of the next official weigh-in, at the age of 11, 43 per cent of them are classified overweight or obese.

“The figure is nine per cent higher than the national average. That really is a significant difference,” said Dr Humphreys.

Already the school has put in measures to improve the statistics, he said.

“We have built our own kitchen with a £250,000 grant from the diocese and we now employ a chef to cook school lunches. We have a Food Standards Group, comprising parents, staff, governors and pupil representatives to scrutinise the menus for quality and nutrition.”

Dr Humphreys has also upped the amount of PE lesson and sport in the school.

His statement comes the same week a Public Health England official said Britain must “get on a diet” an reduce obesity by 20 per cent by 2024, as reported by the likes of the BBC.