Less stress and more body respect this back to school
As September rolls around, the back to school machine is once again whirring into action and bringing it with it all the usual stresses. Uniform, stationery, school dinners, a new class and different teachers can all cause concern and upheaval for parents and pupils alike. But is there more to it? Sometimes how children and young people feel about their bodies can impact their return to the classroom, which is why the Body Happy Org is launching our second Back to School with Body Respect campaign.
There’s no doubt going back to school is stressful. A quarter of parents think it’s the most stressful time of year, ahead of the Christmas period, according to a recent survey by shoe retailer Deichmann. While a 2024 survey conducted by teenage mental health charity stem4 found anxiety is stopping almost a third of young people from going to school.
Of 1,025 children and young people surveyed, 28% of 12-to-18 year-olds said they had avoided going to school or college so as not to feel worried. It’s a key factor behind the continuing school absence issue, which meant one in five pupils was persistently absent, missing 10% of the academic year, in 2025/26.
These feelings will be bubbling to the surface as the new school term approaches. Especially if it’s a challenging year ahead, with a new school, new subjects or exams.
What’s this got to do with body image?
We know that over 50% of children and young people feel bad about their bodies (Mental Health Foundation, 2019). And the stem4 research showed that the number experiencing school anxiety rose to half in the 48% of young people who had mental health difficulties (which included negative body image and eating disorders).
Unfortunately, school often doesn’t help those struggling and can in some situations exacerbate the problem. Constant change and expectation, healthy eating education steeped in diet culture, uniform that doesn’t work for all bodies, damaging stereotypes around sport and appearance-based banter and bullying can all be present in schools across the UK with far-reaching consequences.
Poor body image can impact confidence, friendships and educational outcomes. It can also be linked to risk-taking behaviours, from dieting and cosmetic surgery to disordered eating and self-harm, which can be exacerbated by outside stress and pressure. And teachers, in many cases, are not equipped to navigate the problems.
What we can do
At the Body Happy Org, we work in schools all year round, so we see how body image issues can arise, escalate and affect outcomes in the academic environment. But we also know how to make things better.
Our Back to School with Body Respect campaign aims to raise awareness of the issues and how we can all help.
“Body respect is a we issue, not a me issue,” says Body Happy Org founder Molly Forbes. “Every one of us has a part to play in breaking generational cycles of body shame and building cultures of body respect. In schools that means creating a welcoming environment, where everyone feels they belong regardless of what they look like.”
Our Body Happy Schools programme does just that. It isn’t just a one-off lesson or workshop, it’s a whole-school approach to instill real change. And we’ve seen it working. Students in our Year 5–6 pilot project were twice as likely to use positive words about their bodies after the workshop, while staff confidence to support students around body image and stigma rose from 57.1% to 90.5%.
Throughout September, we will be talking about some of the ways body respect can transform the school experience for children and young people. And why it is very much an education issue. Let’s go Back to School with Body Respect together.
Whether you’re a teacher or a parent, you can help bring the Body Happy Org into your school, here
Or if you’re able to champion our cause by donating or fundraising, find out more, here