A youth-led movement for self-compassion, body appreciation, and connection

Love Your Body Marin is a youth-led initiative created by high school students across Marin County who want to change how body image and mental health are talked about in our community.

At the center of this work is Love Your Body Week, held during National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, February 23-March 1, a week focused on celebrating one’s unique body.  Through student-led conversations, activities, and creative actions, the week will help young people feel less alone and more supported in their bodies.

What Is Love Your Body Week?

Love Your Body Week is a countywide youth-led campaign focused on prevention, self-compassion, and connection. As students, we see how pressure around appearance, food, and “health” shows up every day on social media, at school, and in conversations with friends. Many young people feel they have to look or eat a certain way to be accepted.

Love Your Body Week was created to challenge those pressures and create space for more honest supportive conversations about body image and mental health.

“Being part of this (program) made me realize I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.”
— High School Student and The Body Positive Team Member

Why This Matters

Eating disorders affect millions of people and have one of the highest mortality rates of any mental health condition. They affect people of all genders, races, backgrounds, and body sizes; yet many who struggle never receive support, often because eating disorders don’t look the way people expect.

Body image struggles often begin at a young age. Love Your Body Marin exists to remind young people that health is not defined by appearance, and that every body deserves care, respect, and kindness.

Part of the Body Positive Initiative

Love Your Body Marin is part of a larger, ongoing effort connected to The Body Positive, an evidence-based prevention program for youth. Students receive training and then bring what they learn back to their schools by leading clubs, activities, and conversations that support healthier community cultures.

This work is guided by the five Be Body Positive Competencies:

• Reclaiming Health

• Practicing Intuitive Self-Care

• Cultivating Self-Love

• Declaring One’s Authentic Beauty

• Building Community

View the Five Competencies (PDF – English & Spanish)
Learn more about The Body Positive: https://thebodypositive.org/

Schools Currently Participating

Love Your Body Marin is currently active in the following schools across Marin:

• San Rafael High School

• Terra Linda High School

• Novato High School

• San Domenico High School

We hope to continue growing this work and bringing Love Your Body Week and The Body Positive initiative to more schools.

Get Involved

Love Your Body Marin is by youth, for youth and there are many ways to be part of it!

If you’re a student, educator, or community member interested in Love Your Body Week or the broader Body Positive initiative, we’d love to connect.

📧 Reach out to get involved:
nancy.vernon@bluepathhealth.com

A Final Note

Loving your body doesn’t mean loving how it looks every day, it means honoring what your body allows you to do and treating yourself with kindness –without judgment.

Everyone deserves to feel seen, valued, and comfortable in their body.

True beauty begins on the inside and shines outward.