NHS asks 10-year-olds if they're 'comfortable in their gender' in official transgender survey for schoolchildren 

• Some schoolchildren in Year Six have been given the official survey by the NHS 
• The pupils were asked to tick a correct box to say if they are a 'boy, girl or other'
• They were asked if they 'feel' the same inside as the gender they were born with

Children as young as ten are being asked by the NHS if they feel 'comfortable with their gender', it emerged last night.

The questionnaire being handed out to schools in Lancashire asks questions such as: 'Do you feel the same inside as the gender you were born with? (Feeling male or female).'

Pupils in Year Six are also asked to tick a box to fill in their gender, where they are given the choice of 'girl', 'boy' or 'other'.

Parents have been told the survey assists teachers and healthcare workers to develop 'better ways to understand and support' youngsters who might have difficulty with their identities.

However, it is not clear whether individuals will then be approached based on the answers they supplied, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The survey, issued by the Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, has come under fire from parents and MPs.

Lyndsey Simpson, from Leyland, said her ten-year-old daughter had been in 'a state' when she brought the questionnaire home from her Church of England school last week.

She said: 'I don't want someone putting into my daughter's head that she might not be happy with her own gender', adding that the head teacher of the school had not been aware the question was in the form.

Mrs Simpson said he was 'very supportive' after it was brought to his attention.

Tory MP Tim Loughton, a former children's minister, said the questions were 'deeply worrying'. He said: 'At a time when children are growing up and having to deal with all sorts of challenges of the modern world, now they are being asked to confront their gender, which for many will be unsettling.

'Clearly we need to be sensitive about the issue of gender and sexual orientation, but forcing children to question whether they are the right gender so early on can be deeply destabilising.'

The NHS does not offer gender reassignment surgery to people under the age of 18.

But 50 children a week – some of them as young as four – are being sent to gender reassignment doctors because they think they were born in the wrong body, it emerged earlier this year.

Some experts believe that while some children are clearly trapped in the wrong body and in desperate need of help, many are simply confused about their sexuality and identity during puberty.

It comes after it was revealed this month that children as young as three are being read transgender books which encourage them to question their gender.

The books are on reading lists for nurseries and primary schools provided by Educate and Celebrate, an organisation funded by the Department for Education to help schools prevent transphobia.

Questions for discussion at the back of the book include: 'Does it matter if Tiny is a boy or a girl?' and 'Should Tiny be allowed to play football and dress up as a fairy?'

The books aim to promote tolerance of transgender people among young children, but critics say it will confuse them.

Last month, Mermaids, which is Britain's only nationwide charity for transgender and 'gender diverse' children, reported a 700 per cent rise in calls and emails in three years.

It comes as growing numbers of young people are sharing their stories of changing sex on video-sharing websites such as YouTube. Last night, no one at Lancashire Care NHS Trust was available for comment.