Alberta’s new physical education curriculum risks promoting disordered eating among students

In June 2026, the Alberta government released an updated draft of its Grades 7 to 9 Physical Education and Wellness curriculum, intended for optional classroom piloting during the 2026–27 school year and mandatory implementation in September 2027. The way food, bodies and physical activity are discussed in the new curriculum has the potential to prime, endorse or worsen disordered eating and compulsive exercise among youth. Adolescence is a time when youth become more preoccupied with their appearance and experience greater body dissatisfaction. They are also at a higher risk for developing disordered eating behaviours, including dieting, food restriction and binge eating, which can precede eating disorders. Because patterns of dieting and disordered eating in teenage years can persist into adulthood, it’s vital to help young people develop healthy relationships with their bodies. Our research on the conditions that foster eating disorders and body dissatisfaction compels us to speak out and identify the key issues with the proposed curriculum. Health cannot be reduced to weight Throughout the curriculum, higher body weight is framed in relatively simplistic terms, with an emphasis on overeating. For example, one learning outcome states: “Larger portions can lead to overconsumption and increase risk of obesity and chronic disease.” Obesity is a complex, chronic disease with several contributing factors outside of direct control, including genetics, access to physical recreation opportunities and safe neighbourhoods, socioeconomic class and medication side effects. Teaching students that obesity is simply the result of overconsumption risks blaming individuals for their body weight and creating the misleading impression that body size and shape are entirely within their control. Students in larger bodies, or who have family members in larger bodies, are likely to feel blamed and shamed in these lessons. Such simplistic messages can also reinforce weight-based bullying, which is already too common in Canadian schools and has worrying consequences for the health of both victims and bystanders, including an increased risk of eating disorders. Instead of focusing on weight, health education should emphasize behaviours that benefit all dimensions of well-being, regardless of body size. Food is not inherently good or bad The draft curriculum creates a binary distinction between good and bad foods by casting convenient and ultra-processed foods in a negative light. Yet these are inconsistently defined concepts. For example, a Grade 7 learning outcome states: “Modern diets that include ultra-processed foods and convenience foods can be high in calories (energy) and low in nutrients.” Similarly, an outcome in Grade 8 reads: “Compared with processed foods, whole foods harvested from the land absorb nutrients from the soil, enhancing their taste, quality, appearance and nutritional value.” Teaching young people about nutrition means recognizing that food choices are shaped by more than individual preference, including family circumstances, culture and access to food. (Getty Images/Unsplash+) Food binaries attach moral value to food, potentially shaming students who do not have access to the “right” foods. A restrictive, fear-based approach to food can result in out-of-control eating or rigid food avoidance, both of which are forms of disordered eating. These concerns are particularly relevant in Alberta, which is currently experiencing one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the country. Many families rely on food banks, which often distribute processed or convenience foods. Students should not feel ashamed of eating what their families can afford or access, particularly when food insecurity itself can heighten the risk of eating disorders. Instead, students should be taught to approach food intuitively and flexibly based on their access and needs to fuel daily living activities. Tracking food and exercise can backfire Perhaps the most concerning curriculum outcomes are those that ask students to monitor their dietary and exercise patterns and develop personal plans to achieve nutrition and fitness goals and framing “wellness apps” as a helpful resource to do so. Such assignments risk reinforcing the idea that eating and activity patterns are solely within a person’s control. They overlook whether youth have a choice in what food is available in their homes or the privilege of accessing physical activity in safe environments. Evaluating teenagers on behaviours they have little to no control over can set them up for feeling like failures, ashamed or discouraged. Food and exercise tracking are also associated with eating disorders and should not be required school assignments. Despite the widespread promotion of food and exercise tracking tools and apps, research suggests they are relatively ineffective at improving eating and exercise habits and can increase body concerns, disordered eating and compulsive exercise. Wellness apps and tracking devices are not only more attractive to people who have pre-existing eating and body concerns, but can also initiate these preoccupations and disordered behaviours and therefore should not be encouraged in schools. Physical activity is more than appearance The new curriculum risks presenting physical fitness and athletic performance as central reasons for engaging in physical activity. It emphasizes concepts that are specific to muscle building at competitive levels, such as overload, specificity, reversibility and the principle of diminishing returns. How schools teach young people about fitness and health can shape their attitudes toward food, exercise and their bodies. (Getty Images/Unsplash+) Media portrayals of these practices and ideals of muscularity are associated with increased body dissatisfaction and muscle dysmorphia in Canadian youth. Emphasizing these concepts in general health education risks reinforcing a narrow understanding of physical activity centred on physical performance and a preoccupation with muscularity. The language around “personal fitness” could also encourage the idealization of thinness and muscularity as the standard and metric of “health,” rather than teaching students how enjoying movement can create benefits for our bodies, minds, relationships and emotions throughout their lifespan. A broader perspective is needed Physical and health education can play an important role in helping students develop a healthy relationship with food and movement. These topics should not be avoided. Rather, schools need evidence-based health education that is developmentally appropriate, eating disorder-safe, weight neutral, inclusive of those experiencing food insecurity and situated within a broader understanding of adolescent health. For ideas on keeping class discussions weight-neutral and assignments safe and developmentally appropriate, visit the Body Image Research Lab at the University of Calgary, where we research body image, eating disorders and weight bias.