Guiding Principles
These guiding principles will help you support students to develop a positive relationship with food and their bodies. Promoting a healthy relationship with food and bodies helps create an inclusive learning environment within the school community.
Guiding Principles
Recognize how food supports more than just our physical health. Reflect on how food also supports our social, cognitive, spiritual, and mental well-being.
Respect diversity related to food. Acknowledge that many factors influence the foods students eat including access to food, taste, texture, preferences, allergies, and culture.
Reflect and recognize the influence of diet culture on how we perceive food.
Celebrate food’s connection to family, community, culture, tradition, history, and the land.
Call foods by their name (e.g., broccoli, hamburger, cookie, apple) instead of using categories like “good/bad”, “healthy/unhealthy”, “every day/sometimes” or “junk food”.
Encourage eating with others to foster social connections and communication skills.
Allow students to choose a variety of foods and flavours that they enjoy. All food has value.
Provide hands-on learning experiences so students can see, smell, touch, cook, taste, and learn about a variety of food.
Encourage students to explore food with openness and curiosity.
Parent/Guardian/Caregiver’s role: What food to provide
- Trust that families are doing their best to provide food for their children with the resources they have available.
- Recognize that most students do not have control over the food they eat. Adult roles include grocery shopping, meal planning, and food selection.
School/Educator’s role: When and where students eat
- Ensure regular meal and snack breaks. Allow enough time and suitable space for eating at school.
- Save food and nutrition education for the classroom rather than at mealtimes. Be neutral and do not comment on what, whether, and how much students are eating.
Child/Student’s role: Whether and how much they eat
- Trust students when they say or show that they are full or they are hungry for more.
- Respect students’ decisions, including eating food in the order they choose.
Reflect on your attitudes, beliefs and biases about body size, eating patterns, and health. Be mindful of what you say and avoid sharing personal views.
Think critically about the influence of diet culture and how its marketing affects body image and self-esteem.
Challenge messages about body ideals, appearance norms, and weight-based stereotypes.
Role model and teach students to not comment on weight or appearance. Focus on internal attributes (e.g., creativity, kindness) instead of external ones.
Address weight-based comments and bullying.
