Does teacher know best in the obesity epidemic?

Does teacher know best in the obesity epidemic?

New Zealand schools are fast becoming battle grounds against obesity with Ministry of Health initiatives increasingly calling for direct involvement from teachers.
Schools are implementing a range of ‘anti-obesity’ practices too including inspecting children’s lunchboxes, banning cakes, running boot camps, encouraging the use of fitness tracking devices and asking children to keep eating and exercise diaries.

But there is growing opinion that school may not be the best place to focus the fight against fat.

The question What is the role of schools in addressing obesity? will be discussed by a panel of education and obesity experts at The University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education and Social Work on Wednesday November 2 (5-6.30pm), Building N5, Epsom Campus. The discussion is open to the public and admission is free.

Co-organiser and panel member, Dr Darren Powell, a lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Social Work whose current research focuses on the childhood obesity epidemic, is urging schools, teachers and parents to attend the discussion.

“It’s important they come along as there are a number of practices that are becoming normalised in schools due to fears about obesity and children’s lifestyles. But there is a growing body of research that demonstrates fat-fighting in schools may do more harm than good to children’s wellbeing”.

The discussion will be led by expert and author of The Obesity Epidemic: Science, Morality and Ideology,Professor Jan Wright from the University of Wollongong, and panellists include university researchers and teachers who will share their different perspectives.

Says Dr Powell: “I expect the discussion will challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about the role of schools in fighting obesity, contest the idea that ‘it’s better to do something than nothing’ and point out new possibilities for teaching and learning about fatness, obesity, and health.”

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