Research shows that the percentage of overweight children in Slovenia and around the world has been increasing over the years (Starc et al., 2022; Garrido et al., 2019; Catan et al., 2020). Consequently, more and more primary school pupils are overweight. In this master’s thesis, we aimed to determine how, if at all, teachers adapt lessons for pupils with overweight, whom they turn to for help in this regard, where they obtain relevant literature, and how competent they perceive themselves to be in adapting lessons. We also wanted to explore pupils’ opinions on how important they consider adapting lessons for their overweight classmates, and in what ways their teachers have done so until now.
The research data were collected through a survey conducted in physical form, in which we linked pupils’ questionnaires with those of their teachers. The survey was anonymous and included nine different primary schools, each with two classes from grades 4 to 6.
The results showed that teachers very often encounter pupils with overweight, that most of the surveyed teachers do not adapt lessons for them, and especially that teachers lack sufficient experience and materials to assist them in making adaptations, while also not feeling sufficiently competent to do so. The research conducted with pupils showed that some teachers, particularly those teaching physical education, emphasize the importance of sports, but discussions about overweight are still less common and are largely avoided by teachers. We also found that pupils consider it important to talk about overweight, especially those whose teachers do not address the topic. Pupils also find lesson adaptation for overweight pupils important, and we explored the most common ways teachers do this.
The results of our research are significant, as they could help bring the theory of overweight and the treatment of overweight children into practice. Furthermore, based on the results we obtained, teachers could become more aware of the responsibility they have in working with pupils with overweight who need such support.
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