The Power of Community Conversations

This year’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week is all about community – and it’s a great time to discuss the power of conversations. 

At The Body Happy Organisation we build cultures of body respect to help children and young people celebrate, respect and accept ALL bodies – especially their own. And a core component of our work is about conversations. Culture shifts don’t begin with policies – they begin with what we say out loud. 

In classrooms across the UK, children are already navigating complex ideas about bodies, food and appearance. Many arrive at school having absorbed powerful messages about which bodies are “good” and which are “bad”. Avoiding these conversations does not protect children - age-appropriate, guided conversations do.

What Does a Body-Respecting Conversation Look Like?

It looks like:

• Exploring what body respect means

• Noticing how media messages shape how we feel

• Talking about kindness towards our own bodies (and understanding the difference between “looks behaviours” and “health behaviours”)

• Challenging weight-stigma – and examining our unconscious bias to ensure we’re not inadvertently perpetuating it 

• Asking thoughtful questions instead of shutting topics down

It means giving children space to think critically and compassionately.

Why Start in Year 5 and 6?

Upper KS2 is a key developmental window. Children may be experiencing puberty changes - and the peer influence starts to matter more than ever (and with it, the risk of social comparison). It also might be a time when they engage more independently with digital media and form stronger identity narratives. Supporting them at this stage is preventative, not reactive.

Through our partnership with SYEDA, South Yorkshire schools can access a structured, presenter-led interactive (and animated) Digital Body Happy Workshop that helps open these conversations safely and constructively.

Community Is Conversation

When a school opens up body-respecting dialogue, the impact doesn’t stay in one classroom. Children take that language home and peer norms can begin to shift beyond the walls of the classroom. 

Community is built one conversation at a time.

If you’re part of a South Yorkshire school community and would like to be involved, connect with SYEDA to learn more about accessing the workshop.

Prevention doesn’t begin at crisis point, it begins in conversation.

South Yorkshire schools - access the Body Happy Digital Workshop for Y5 and Y6 here: