Everyone deserves to feel at home in their body. This resource, developed by researchers, educators, and health professionals, shares practices for creating school environments where all bodies feel welcome.
Some of these suggestions may challenge your beliefs while others may resonate strongly with you. We all have been shaped by various factors and messages about bodies in our own lives.
Some of the ideas we have learned may be inaccurate. We can become more aware of how these ideas contribute to our own relationship with our bodies, so that we can model more supportive behaviours with children and youth at school.
Watch this short video to learn more about Being Me, Being Us:
The concept of Body Image comes up in all classroom and school spaces. It is a multi-dimensional topic that affects all children and youth.
Educators can help students feel confident and empowered in who they are by including social and emotional learning strategies, the First Peoples Principles of Learning (FPPL), mental health literacy, media literacy, and other strategies that promote healthy hearts, minds, and bodies.
Curricular Connections
The Physical and Health Education (PHE) in British Columbia is designed to help students develop the knowledge, skills and understanding to be safe, active, and stay healthy in their lives. Learning about body image is a required learning standard found in grade 4, and learning about practices and strategies that promote personal health and a positive mental well-being can be found throughout the K-10 PHE curriculum and other disciplines. This resource also connects to the Personal and Social competency in BC’s curriculum.
Land Acknowledgement
We gratefully acknowledge that we are carrying out our work on the territories of First Nations across B.C. The Ministry of Health acknowledges that its main office is situated on the territories of the Lək ̓ ʷəŋən speaking peoples, the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.
We would like to thank everyone who was involved with the development of this resource. This resource was developed by the Ministry of Health and BC Children’s Hospital in partnership with members from BC Centre for Disease Control, BC Teachers’ Federation, Embody BC, Interior Health, First Nations Health Authority, Little Spuds Nutrition, Ministry of Education and Child Care, National Eating Disorder Information Centre, Northern Health, and Vancouver Coastal Health.