To change the way diet clubs, slimming services and weight loss products are marketed around children and young people, in order to create a body happy world where parents, kids and communities can celebrate themselves for all that they are - regardless of their body.
“We’re campaigning for tighter regulations around the way diet clubs, slimming services and weight loss products are marketed around children and young people.”
Body image issues are on the rise, and research shows children as young as three years old are feeling like their body isn’t good enough. There’s a wealth of evidence showing a clear link between negative body image (feeling bad about your body) and mental health issues such as low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. But the research also shows that children who worry about their body and appearance are less likely to raise their hand in class, get involved with sport and interact with their peers.
While there are some brilliant initiatives in schools and kids’ clubs across the UK, and parents are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of creating positive body image environments at home, there is still a huge amount of work to be done to address the often toxic, negative culture around body image that our children are growing up in. And one of these areas is the way diet clubs, weight loss products and slimming services are advertised around children and young people.
A child could have a body image lesson in their PSHE class, for example, and then walk right past a poster for their local diet club on their school gates. Or a child could be growing up in a household with a positive attitude towards body image, but be given a leaflet for a diet club to bring home to their parents in their school book bag. These are not fantasy scenarios, they’re just a couple of the examples we’ve been sent of ways children are being exposed to diet culture in the very places they should free from body shaming or messages promoting an “ideal” body type.
Dear School…
DOWNLOAD LETTER HERE
Does your child’s school have diet or weight loss advertising displayed? Maybe there’s a banner for a diet club on the railings or in the foyer, or maybe your child’s brought home a leaflet for a diet club in their book bag? Here’s a super polite, respectful letter you can send to your school to raise awareness about the potential harms of this marketing being in such close proximity to their setting.
“Instead of exposing children to diets and planting the seed that one body is preferred over another, we should be encouraging them to play, learn and be more accepting of others. I fully support this initiative to help children live free from diets so they can build a positive relationship with food, movement and their bodies.”
Tighter regulations around the way diet clubs and weight loss products are advertised around children.
An introduction of a 100 metre “diet free zone” around schools and kids’ clubs, stopping any promo for these products being placed within 100 metres of a school or children’s club.
A national manifesto for venues that host diet clubs to sign, with a clear set of guidelines for club leaders to follow around the promotion of their group.
Tova Leigh
Kate Dyson
Becky Amoi Young
Dr Joshua Wolrich
Anti Diet Riot Club
Stevie Blaine
Tally Rye
Kerri Northcott
Harriet Shearsmith
Laura Phelan
Jsky
Harri Rose
