Back to School with Body Respect
Scrolling through social media or flicking through magazines in the 90s and 00s, it was impossible to avoid body shaming headlines, paparazzi “thinspiration,” and sitcom fat suits played for laughs (Monica in Friends, anyone?). You might think things have changed – but the same harmful ideals have simply been repackaged.
That’s why, as children and young people head back into classrooms this September, it’s more important than ever to embed cultures of body respect in schools.
Why this matters in education
Research shows that more than half of children feel unhappy with their bodies (Mental Health Foundation, 2019). Poor body image and body-based stigma aren’t just about “feeling insecure” - they are early risk factors for disordered eating (NHS Digital, 2023) and have a direct impact on confidence, attendance, attainment, and safeguarding.
Yet body image is still largely absent from wellbeing policy. Campaigns such as Our Wellbeing, Our Voice are pushing for a national wellbeing measurement programme, while the proposed Children and Schools Wellbeing Bill would make wellbeing measurement mandatory. Both are welcome steps. But unless body image is part of what we measure, we risk missing one of the most powerful - and overlooked - drivers of inequality in education.
When students feel excluded or judged for how they look, they disengage from learning and from one another. When schools take a proactive approach to body respect, they create environments where children thrive: building empathy, resilience, and a stronger sense of belonging.
Our solution: The Body Happy Schools Programme
At Body Happy Org, we’ve designed the UK’s first whole-school Body Happy Schools Programme. It combines:
Staff CPD to build confidence and shared language
Student workshops and assemblies across Key Stages
Peer advocacy programmes led by young people themselves
Curriculum aligned learning resources designed by our multi-disciplinary team (including PSHE specialists) and piloted in real schools
Resources for families to continue conversations at home
Free access for schools in Devon and South Yorkshire
Thanks to local partnerships, some schools can access parts of the programme for free this year:
Devon Schools Wellbeing Partnership – free access to KS3 & KS4 Body Happy Schemes of Work, plus the Year 5–6 digital workshop. (Sign up here.)
SYEDA partnership in South Yorkshire – free access to our Body Happy Digital Workshop for Years 5 and 6 via our partnership with South Yorkshire Eating Disorders Association. (Sign up here.)
If you’re a school leader or educator in these regions, don’t miss this opportunity to bring body respect into your classrooms.
How you can help
We need your support to expand this work so every child, no matter their postcode, can learn in a body-respecting school. You can help us reach our £60,000 fundraising target to subsidise high-Pupil Premium schools.
Back to school should mean back to belonging.
Together, we can make sure every child grows up able to celebrate, respect and accept ALL bodies – especially their own.
