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As a result local data was required to inform local planning and targeting of  resources and interventions; and to enable tracking of local progress against the PSA target. Although many PCTs have already been carrying out measurement of children's height and weight, particularly at school entry, this was insufficient for our purposes.

The guidance to PCTs, published on 11 January 2006, provides advice on how to measure the height and weight of children in maintained schools in two age groups:  the reception year (ages 4-5 years) and year 6 (ages 10-11 years).   DH expects PCTs to make arrangements with primary school headteachers to carry out measurement in schools.

The local healthy schools programmes should be involved in this measurement process by encouraging schools to make use of the PCT system of weighing and measuring children.  The measurement is for the purpose of monitoring obesity prevalence among population groups and is not designed to screen individual children for referral. This follows advice from the National Screening Committee that the current evidence on what works for obesity interventions at individual child level was not yet robust enough to support screening individual children.  But the evidence so far does support interventions at school and community level.  The NICE guidance to be published in 2007 will review obesity interventions and provide further advice  about what works. Further guidance on data transfer, handling and analysis and feedback to PCTs is planned in April.

• Measuring childhood obesity: Guidance to PCTs on data handling