Petition · past parliament
Change the current school curriculum regarding BMI and healthy eating.
Rejected
13 signatures
What the petition asks
The secondary school curriculum currently requires schools to teach students about healthy eating and BMI (Body mass index). This lesson is awful and insincere, with many students made to feel uncomfortable and insecure. I believe a change to the curriculum should be made.
This lesson promotes that of eating insecurity and entirely invalidates those with Eating Disorders. The government should respect the mental and physical health of teenagers. The lesson shouldn’t focus on Body Mass Index and rather how healthy eating benefits you as a person. Measuring students on a graph can be extremely anxiety inducing for body conscious teenagers. BMI is regarded by many professionals as incorrect, so teaching this to impressionable young people is entirely wrong.
Why it was rejected
It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.
The national curriculum does not require that students be taught about BMI.
The secondary national curriculum states that students should be taught about the consequences of imbalances in the diet, including obesity, starvation and deficiency diseases. The new Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education curriculum states that students should be taught about the risks associated with an inactive lifestyle (including obesity), and the characteristics of a poor diet and risks associated with unhealthy eating (including, for example, obesity and tooth decay) and other behaviours (e.g. the impact of alcohol on diet or health).
You can read the secondary national curriculum here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/840002/Secondary_national_curriculum_corrected_PDF.pdf
And you can read the new Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education curriculum: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/908013/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf
We could accept a petition calling for changes to this content, but it would need to be clear what changes you want to be made.
The secondary national curriculum states that students should be taught about the consequences of imbalances in the diet, including obesity, starvation and deficiency diseases. The new Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education curriculum states that students should be taught about the risks associated with an inactive lifestyle (including obesity), and the characteristics of a poor diet and risks associated with unhealthy eating (including, for example, obesity and tooth decay) and other behaviours (e.g. the impact of alcohol on diet or health).
You can read the secondary national curriculum here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/840002/Secondary_national_curriculum_corrected_PDF.pdf
And you can read the new Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education curriculum: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/908013/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf
We could accept a petition calling for changes to this content, but it would need to be clear what changes you want to be made.
Timeline
| 11 Feb 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 18 Mar 2021 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
13
Status
Rejected
Rejected
18 Mar 2021
Follow this petition
Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.
Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.