Food Education Is Being Overhauled In Australian Schools To Prevent Eating Disorders

For anyone who’s had to learn about food and nutrition in school, the process can be a strange one.

In the past, students have been expected to undergo BMI measurements, keep food diaries and identify the calorific value of foods. But all of that is about to change, because in 2024 and 2025, food and nutrition education in schools will be overhauled as a result of one Australian mother’s advocacy campaign to prevent the development and relapse of eating disorders.

Parent and The Embrace Collective and Eating Disorders Families Australia (EDFA) member, Kylie Burton, was alerted to the harmful curriculum by her daughter who has been battling anorexia nervosa for years.

“There was a six-week maths unit on measurement that included diet advice and body measurements. In the first lesson, students were asked to record each other’s height and weight so they could use formulas to calculate their BMI and plot their results on a graph,” Kylie explained in a press release regarding the curriculum reform.

“That very first lesson was an obvious tipping point for her. I saw her behaviour change – she came home and told me about it straight away. She and her friends were very upset and embarrassed. There was a group of them that just stopped eating lunch together at school and my daughter started relapsing,” she continued.
“I shared a post on the EDFA Facebook page, and I started to get a lot of replies about very similar situations from families all over the country, about triggering class work in several subjects and different year levels from prep all the way through to TAFE. I realised it was a big, nationwide problem.”

“Prior to my daughter being sick, I wouldn’t have had this depth of understanding, and I know how overwhelming it can be catering for all these different students’ needs, so there’s absolutely no criticism of teachers. They want to do the right thing – it’s just about awareness, and understanding how those tasks can be processed by someone with body image concerns. I’ve also heard from many teachers, who have found the content triggering for themselves and are welcoming the new guidelines and resources,” she went on to say in her statement.

Kylie penned an open letter to the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to petition for changes to the curriculum, which was supported and co-signed by the EDFA, The Embrace Collective and several eating disorder organisations and advocates.

“It is wonderful to see these changes to the curriculum coming into effect as a key action in promoting body appreciation and positive relationships with food and eating, particularly in this critical developmental stage when the risk of eating disorder onset is high,” said Hilary Smith, National Manager at the National Eating Disorder Collaboration (NEDC). “A particularly important factor is the way that these changes have been integrated across the curriculum, so that the harm minimisation approach is consistent, whether in a health class, a maths class or in drama, biology or food technology.”

Thanks to the persistence of Kylie and the eating disorder awareness organisations that backed her, children can now enjoy a productive and helpful food and health education that doesn’t impact their wellbeing.

The new food and wellbeing curriculum will place emphasis on supporting the development of positive food and wellbeing behaviours in students through five key strategies:

1. Personal, social, economic and cultural influences on food choices and eating habits
2. Strategies for planning and maintaining healthy, balanced nutrition (including options for snacks, meals and drinks)
3. Quality, sustainable food (food groups and variety, processed versus real foods, sustainable production practices, food miles)
4. Food preparation and enjoyment
5. Properties and benefits of foods.

The new curriculum will also avoid certain teachings in order to prevent causing unintended harm. This includes “critiquing and comparing personal food and wellbeing choices and habits with those of other people, including calculating kilojoules/calories; assessing body weight and body measurements; calculating BMI (Body Mass Index); and recording food intake in food diaries” and “focusing on constant improvement for all students to be “healthier” and using the terms “good” and “bad” foods”.

Main image credit: Getty

What do you think about Australia’s new food and health curriculum reform?