Primary school slammed for fat-shaming students forcing them to weigh in front of class

A primary school has been slammed for fat-shaming its students and forcing them to weigh themselves in front of their peers. 

The school, which has not been publicly named, allowed a teacher to bring in a set of scales before making the 10-year-old students weigh themselves one by one.

They then wrote down their name and weight on the board before they were ranked – prompting the heaviest student to stop eating so they could lose weight.

An outraged parent came forward with the horrifying details after learning about it from a friend whose child had developed the eating disorder.

Eating disorder support organisation Butterfly Foundation revealed demand for its services had risen sharply over the last couple of years.

Head of prevention Danni Rowlands said eating disorders were being developed by students in grades as early as Years 4 to 6.

‘School staff are more aware of students who have body image issues … more students who are struggling with eating disorders,’ she told 7News.

‘We’re increasingly hearing reports of students expressing low self-esteem, not eating at school or who are uncomfortable doing so in front of others, students over-eating and under-eating and expressing a desire to count calories and diet from a young age.’ 

The school, which has not been publicly named, allowed a teacher to bring in a set of scales before making the 10-year-old students weigh themselves one by one (stock image)

Ms Rowlands warned weighing children in front of each other would more likely create more problems than address obesity.

Anxiety, restrictive diets and binge eating were among the problematic behaviours that could develop among children.

‘There are lots of tools a teacher can use (for teaching activities ) – a child’s body is not one of those,’ Ms Rowlands said.