Obesity ‘should be taboo subject in the classroom’
TEACHERS must not talk about getting fat or compliment colleagues on losing weight in front of pupils, Governmentbacked guidance says.
They should also avoid discussing ‘unflattering photos of celebrities’, how ageing ravages people’s looks and ‘fat-shaming’ youngsters.
The advice is supposed to help pupils develop positive body images amid ‘society’s intense focus on physical appearance’.
It has been developed by the PSHE [Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education] Association, a charity funded by the
‘Unattractive people’
Government Equalities Office whose work is targeted at school children. Its ‘key standards in teaching about body image’ are not statutory, but many schools are likely to adopt them.
The guidance suggests teaching about eating disorders from 11 years old and ‘idealised and artificial body shapes’ and the health risks associated with plastic surgery from age 14.
However, before considering their lessons for pupils, teachers are instructed to ‘think about yourself and your colleagues’.
The document says: ‘Young people pay far more attention to what we do than what we say. If we teach them about positive body image but do not embody the thoughts, feelings and behaviours we’re working to encourage, then we send pupils mixed messages and contradict our own teaching.’
Guidance says teachers must ‘discourage fat- shaming and equation of human worth with body shape’. Obesity is a ‘health problem, not a moral failing or a sign of lack of worth’.
‘Young people who are obese need help to reduce their weight,’ the document says. ‘But a lesson on body image, in front of other pupils, is not the right time or place to do it.’
Teachers are advised not to use pictures of models or celebrities when discussing ‘societal expectations of weight’.
‘These images can inadvertently reinforce the message you are trying to help pupils “unlearn”, since the pictures can act to glamorise low weight and superficial beauty and reinforce the idea that to be beautiful, one must be thin,’ it says.
Similarly, staff should be careful about using photographs of overweight people as they often show ‘ unfashionably dressed, unhappy, unattractive people’ and can ‘send very negative messages’.
Separate PSHE Association guidelines on teaching about mental health, funded by the Department of Education, warn against talking about ‘specific methods’ of weight loss or purging, as well as suicide or selfharming with teenagers.