Weight-related bullying can start in primary school, but talking to young children about weight and body image takes care, confidence and the right language.
The Obesity Institute at Leeds Beckett University asked us to help create a resource that could support those conversations in the classroom. Our response was Every body deserves kindness: a creative campaign and teaching resource designed to help children explore kindness, respect and body image before negative attitudes become established.
Getting it right meant listening to the people it was designed for. We brought together academic evidence and creative thinking with genuine co-production, working alongside Leeds Beckett researchers, clinicians and young people, including children with lived experience of weight stigma.
Together, we created an engaging, age-appropriate resource that gives teachers practical support for difficult conversations and fits within the curriculum – helping schools turn a sensitive subject into positive learning that can make a difference early in children’s lives.
Every body deserves kindness is giving teachers practical support to talk about weight, body image and bullying with children at an early age.
Feedback from the first pilot schools shows the resource is helping teachers approach these sensitive conversations with greater confidence. Designed to align with national curriculum standards, it also provides materials teachers can use as part of classroom learning – making it easier to turn difficult conversations into positive, age-appropriate lessons.
Following its initial rollout, the campaign is now reaching further through trusted education and public-health networks. The teaching pack is hosted on Food Active’s Weight Stigma Hub and has been shared through the National Child Measurement Programme board, Learn Sheffield, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s healthy schools network and Leeds Beckett’s 300 partner primary schools.
Schools can now use Every body deserves kindness to help children talk about body image, weight-related bullying and kindness in a safe, age-appropriate way. The feedback from teachers has been incredibly positive, and seeing the campaign win Silver at the 2026 Northern Digital Awards was wonderful recognition of what we’ve achieved with Wrapped.
Louisa Ells BSc (hons), PhD, RNutr (public health), FRSPH , Professor of Obesity & Co-director of the Obesity Institute.
We worked with the Obesity Institute at Leeds Beckett University to tackle a challenge that few people were talking about – how to help children understand kindness, body image and respect at an early age. Research showed that weight-related bullying often starts in primary school, yet teachers don’t always have the tools or confidence to address it. Together, we focused on prevention – reaching children before attitudes around body image become fixed, and giving teachers the confidence, language and structure to lead positive conversations in the classroom.
Our approach combined academic evidence, creative storytelling and genuine co-production. We worked alongside Leeds Beckett researchers, clinicians and young people – including children with lived experience of weight stigma – to create something real, relatable and grounded in understanding.
To share it, we built credibility through trusted education and public-health networks rather than paid promotion – embedding the resource within Food Active’s national Schools Pledge framework, the National Child Measurement Programme board and regional partnerships nationwide.
We set out to create an accessible way to start difficult classroom conversations about weight stigma and kindness.
Working with Leeds Beckett University’s Obesity Institute, we developed a short animation and teaching resource co-produced with children aged 7–9, some with lived experience of weight stigma, others without. Through workshops at the university, the children helped shape everything: storyline, language, colours and characters (represented as simple shapes to avoid body comparisons).
Safeguarding was essential. With support from SHINE – a specialist organisation that supports children and families affected by obesity – wellbeing was carefully managed throughout the process.
Our team at Wrapped handled every creative element in-house, from concept and scriptwriting to storyboarding, animation and design, ensuring the tone was both age-appropriate and emotionally resonant.
Developed alongside Leeds Beckett’s public-health academics, the finished teaching pack aligns with PSHE curriculum strands on health, relationships and emotional wellbeing. It includes lesson plans, teacher guidance and printable classroom materials – all freely available to schools.
Simple, human and evidence-based, Every Body Deserves Kindness brings empathy and inclusion into everyday education.
Although only recently launched, ‘Every body deserves kindness’ is already gaining national recognition across both health and education networks.
The animation has had almost 1,000 YouTube views, and the teaching pack is hosted on the Weight Stigma Hub via Food Active’s national website – embedded within their Schools Pledge framework.
It’s also been promoted through the National Child Measurement Programme board, featured in the Learn Sheffield Opportunities Bulletin (reaching every school in the city), and shared across Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s healthy schools’ network and Leeds Beckett’s 300 partner primaries.
Feedback from pilot schools has been overwhelmingly positive, with teachers describing the resource as “thoughtful, age-appropriate and aligned with PSHE curriculum standards.”
Following rollout to 100 pilot schools, it’s now being shared more widely across regional and national networks – with potential reach to more than 1,000 UK schools. Because it aligns with national curriculum standards, schools can use it without extra training or policy change – helping to make kindness and inclusion a lasting part of classroom culture.
