New changes to the Australian curriculum will affect the way food and wellbeing is talked about at schools across the country.
Under the guidelines released today, activities that include calculating calories, body mass index, body measurements or recording food intake will be avoided to reduce unintended harm.
The focus will instead shift to good eating habits and keeping bodies moving.
“For kids, I think it’s probably more important to talk about just good eating habits and how to keep your body moving, rather than their weight,” South Australian mother Samara Rankine said.
Eating Disorders Families Australia said numbers around food and bodies could be triggering to young people vulnerable to eating disorders.
Calculating body mass index, keeping food diaries or taking body measurements are considered potentially harmful.
“They’re moving the emphasis away from weight and they’re putting it back onto health,” the organisation said.
The Principals Association said school children are sometimes left feeling shy or anxious talking about their weight and may avoid lessons completely.
“We need to make sure that kids are well informed about how to look after themselves and that understanding about what is healthy and what isn’t,” it said.
The new guidelines have started to come into practice but it will be up to each school whether it implements them.
Full changes to the curriculum can be read here.
