To teach our children about their bodies better, or leave it to teachers?

[Stokey16]

On a bit of a meta thinking spree today, but hear me out.

Childhood obesity rates and mental health crises are through the roof, especially with lockdown. We have PHSE and compulsory modules for children in school but... is it enough for our kids, or are we teaching them enough about their bodies, feelings and what to do with it?

I'm trying to see what's actually covered in schools which... seems to be fairly convoluted and a chance game from what I've researched.

Apart from the birds and the bees, have you tried to teach your kids on a healthy lifestyle aside from nagging, or used any resource like an app? I'm really curious to know if there's any gaps to what I'm struggling to get my head around

Of course it's not enough. The school isn't a substitute for parenting!

We teach our kids about the importance of exercise and fresh air for mental health. We talk about it simply eg I might say that I feel a bit grumpy so am going to go for a walk. Lockdown has been a good opportunity to reinforce that! They are pre-teen so not too hard to persuade them to run around and burn off bad moods.
Is that the kind of thing you mean?

I think whilst it’s good that this stuff is touched upon in schools, the curriculum is far too full for all responsibility to fall on teachers. For most kids, they will take the lead from the adults at home.

I don’t think what’s covered in school is enough, in the sense of not absolving me of responsibility not in the sense I want school to do more. In fact I actively contradict some school “healthy eating advice” - I don’t want my incredibly skinny young child eating low fat food, especially as the average low fat yogurt etc is just stuffed with sugar instead. We discuss sensible eating (so all foods are fine to eat, but some in more moderation than others), we talk about the importance of doing something active outside each day, we talk about the importance of sleep - I don’t use an app or anything though. I do find a book useful when talking about puberty and sex, but it’s just a regular kids book about the human body.

Kids learn by example. If you have a healthy lifestyle as a family and talk about the choices you make and why that should be enough.

No way should school be relied on alone for things like this.

I never relied on the school to teach socialisation (not being social)
I didn't rely on them to teach them to be disciplined that's me and dh role as parents.
I expect {ed} them to teach Maths and English etc.

My DD is still a baby but I will be making sure she does as much physical stuff as possible, partly for exercise but also so she "inhabits" her body and doesn't start thinking she's fat or a bloke.

School can't fix all of societies problems. These things have their groundings at home. Parental responsibility first and foremost. School should really be for academia and everything else down to the parent, however big gaps in parenting already need to be filled in by schools.

Well I think mental health is often intertwined with physical health and I'm not sure the current education system is the best choice for many children. In terms of such a focus on Maths & English & "ticking boxes", how much time do kids spend on PE for example? And I'm not saying focussing on those core subjects is wrong but I wouldn't say the increased focus has lead to better educational outcomes for our dc.

Of course parents have a duty to teach & model good habits but as a society we aren't particularly healthy.

Yep - leave it to the teachers, along with the other 100 billion things that are left to teachers.
Of course, teachers don't have anything better to be doing than dragging up other people's kids.

This is definitely one for the parents. As a teacher of 40+ years I grow weary of the hand balling of parents' duties to teachers.

On the other hand, what if the parent is not interested for whatever reason in conveying the "healthy" line? A lot of what schools are saddled with is predicated, in the the experience of a good number of pupils as: you know what? What your parents are saying and doing is wrong.

How are they meant to deal with that?

Let's face it, if what a teacher said carried any weight at all, all homework would be in on time.

Of course it shouldn't be left to school.

DS is 4. I regularly talk to him about thinking about his tummy and whether it feels full, and that it's important to eat what your body needs and stop when your tummy feels full up. We talk about looking after our teeth and how sweet things can make holes in teeth that can be really sore etc. I talk to him about food and encourage him to help with the cooking.

We talk about exercise and being fit and strong and lead by example, he sees me going running 3 times a week etc.

Nothing should be left completely to the school. Nothing.

Not potty training
Not catching a ball
Not tying shoe laces
Not odd and even numbers
Not reading
Not fastening a coat
Not taking turns
Not the days of the week

DD is 10 and underweight (or at least she was until this last lockdown... we finally got her to “healthy” with concerted effort and she is now 3rd percentile for weight!). She and I discuss healthy eating a fair bit. I contradict school who seem to be unable to understand that some kids are underweight and try to apply their “healthy low fat” standards to me skeletal child.
We also discuss how walling improves her health and mood as well as building muscle and stamina and I drag her out with dog and me regularly.
We try to work on strategies to help her anxiety but I’m less successful there.

None of this is really schools problem. I want them to teach her maths and English.... I’ll deal with her personal self!

We have a healthy well being week at our primary school and all lessons are centred around healthy bodies and nutrition. It is great for discussions with the children but ultimately responsibility is with their parents. If parents are not setting an example then our talks are not going to have a huge impact.

Of course parents need to be involved in every aspect of their child's learning and that starts before school.
I talk with my 4yo about healthy food and unhealthy food and that unhealthy food is only allowed in small amounts. We talk about exercise and how it makes us strong and that walking is better for us that going in the car etc. We talk about certain things being bad for teeth and that they must be brushed to keep them healthy.

Schools might teach the basics to help kids not slip through the cracks, but the majority of that should be taught at home.

Most of it needs to come from parents. I do think that you can tell them and show them all of this stuff when they're little but in the majority of cases it goes out the window in the teenage years! Hopefully they'll come back to it when they're older though.

The poor standard of pe teaching in schools is well documented.

@Peace43

DD is 10 and underweight (or at least she was until this last lockdown... we finally got her to “healthy” with concerted effort and she is now 3rd percentile for weight!). She and I discuss healthy eating a fair bit. I contradict school who seem to be unable to understand that some kids are underweight and try to apply their “healthy low fat” standards to me skeletal child. We also discuss how walling improves her health and mood as well as building muscle and stamina and I drag her out with dog and me regularly. We try to work on strategies to help her anxiety but I’m less successful there.

None of this is really schools problem. I want them to teach her maths and English.... I’ll deal with her personal self!

I had to speak to my dd's teacher after she came home saying she shouldn't eat biscuits because 'they are bad for you'. We've always talked about balance, how your body needs fat, carbohydrates and protein to grow strong and have energy. Ds prefers to eat little and often so we when we eat out we have to talk about 'on this plate, the meat and green veg are the important parts for your body to be strong and the chips are nice and good for some energy but if you don't want to eat them all then that's fine'.

My dd is 8 so has started thinking more about meal planning and making sure there is balance. She's allowed to choose treats in the shopping, and these are not generally limited but we talk about making sure we have enough of the other stuff as well.

They also do gym so we've talked about looking after our muscles, stretching and exercising and feeding them.

There is far too much to leave to school, a healthy lifestyle can't be built in 30 hours a week.

I'm a primary teacher. We teach loads about healthy eating - in my KS2 class we have covered it in science, PSHE and DT lessons. By the end of primary school most kids will know theoretically exactly what a healthy diet should look like. However we, and they themselves, have no influence about what food gets served up to them at home and this is far, far more likely to influence the choices they make about food in the future.

I think more time devoted to food preparation, especially at secondary school, would be great, but the curriculum gives this very little focus and it is not something that a school will be judged on in terms of Ofsted or exam results, which schools are pressured to do well in.

Whilst I think that more needs to be done in schools instead of just being exam factories (such as boys learning about basic respect for girls given the lack of decent role models in many cases), this does not absolve the responsibility of parents. @ShrewYou list sums up some of the things parents should do and not teachers.

This is all super interesting to read, and good to know I'm not the only one with this thought!

Is there anything that you use to help aid this discussion or resources for parents? I know it can feel finger in the air sometimes, but we;ve got. to try our best I guess