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Peer Education Program

Building emotional wisdom, intuitive eating & body acceptance through peer empowerment.

Our Program

Peer-to-Peer Education

For over 15 years, our peer educators (ages 15-25) have been teaching teens about disordered eating and body acceptance through engaging classroom presentations that help students understand how cultural messages about food, weight, and body image can disconnect us from our inherent worth and well-being. Today's youth face an overwhelming barrage of messages, images, and cultural pressures suggesting that happiness and respect can only be achieved through a culturally prescribed body type—while positive messages about size acceptance and self-love remain notably absent from mainstream media.

Our peer educators share powerful personal stories alongside evidence-based strategies, recognizing that each person's relationship with food and body is unique and complex, shaped by personal, familial, and cultural influences. Through an approach that integrates emotional wisdom, intuitive eating and body acceptance, we show students that recovery and a healthy relationship with food and their bodies is possible.

Our Curriculum

Our comprehensive approach integrates three essential components that help students develop a healthy relationship with food, body, and self:

  • Emotional Wisdom

    Create alternative ways to meet your emotional and spiritual needs.

    The symptoms of disordered eating often develop as ways to cope with psychological stress and overwhelming feelings. Through our curriculum, students learn to identify their emotions, develop healthy coping strategies, and understand the connection between their feelings and their relationship with food and body image.

  • Intuitive Eating

    Be able to make choices based on your body’s wisdom.

    Diet culture and rigid food rules can disconnect us from our natural hunger and fullness signals, leading to a cycle of restriction and compulsive eating. We help students reconnect with their body's innate wisdom about food, challenging the "good food vs. bad food" mentality while developing a peaceful and flexible approach to eating.Be able to make choices based on your body’s wisdom.

  • Body Acceptance

    Remember the sacredness of your body, no matter what size or weight.

    In a culture that objectifies bodies and equates thinness with self-worth, many students struggle with severe body hatred. Our program helps students challenge these harmful cultural messages, develop appreciation for body diversity and self-love at every size, and recognize their inherent worth beyond physical appearance.

Our Partnerships

Through our partnerships with schools and community youth organizations, we reach over 2,000 students annually with essential eating disorder prevention education. We're grateful for the educators who recognize the vital importance of peer-led prevention and welcome our program into their classrooms to create lasting change.

Current Partnerships

  • San Rafael High School

  • Terra Linda High School

  • Novato High School

Past Partnerships

  • Tamalpais High School

  • St Ignatius High School

  • Berkeley High School

  • Albany High School

  • Star Academy

  • Archie Williams High School

  • White Hill Middle

  • Larkspur Middle School

  • Lagunitas Middle School

  • Mill Valley Middle School

  • Country Day School

  • Casa Grande High School

  • Sonoma High School

  • Girls Club

  • Girls Marin County Juvenile Hall

  • Redwood High School

  • Point Reyes Middle School

  • Bolines Middle School

  • Marshall Middle School

  • Novato High School

  • San Domenico School

  • Brandeis Marin

  • Dominican College

  • College Of Marin

  • UC Berkeley

  • Marin Girls Conference

  • San Rafael Wellness Center

Would you like to invite Beyond Hunger to your school?

Our Impact

Beyond Hunger's peer education program provides crucial prevention education for Marin County and Bay Area students, where disordered eating behaviors affect 52% of young girls—nearly double the national average of 28%1. As the county's only provider of specialized eating disorder prevention education, we reach over 2,000 students annually with essential information that schools often cannot provide on their own. Our program transforms both the lives of students and our peer educators who often find profound healing through their advocacy work creating lasting change in our community.

Testimonials

“Volunteering with Beyond Hunger has allowed me to take an experience that was difficult and ugly and turn it into something beautiful:

helping others love themselves and their bodies. I know that in every classroom we present to, there is at least one student who is resonating with our lesson and realizing they are not alone in their struggle.”

— Anna, age 18, Peer Educator

“Beyond Hunger has been presenting to 9th grade students in the San Rafael City Schools for more than a decade,

presenting on the topics of Body Image, Intuitive Eating and the unrealistic portrayal of people of all genders in the media. Teachers have found these presentations very effective and relevant to our curriculum and to our students' lives."

— San Rafael High School Health Teacher

"I was able to have a place where I could come and say 'I'm struggling…

and I want to empower other people and I want to tell my story.' I don't think I would be here if it wasn't for Beyond Hunger."

— Female teen, Peer Educator Program

“I've been a Peer Educator at Beyond Hunger for about two-three years and I'm so grateful

for the opportunity to spread awareness about eating disorders and advocate for body acceptance."

— Angelina, age 17, San Rafael High School

“Being part of the Peer Education Program has taught me not only practical skills such as public speaking, leadership, and teamwork

but also to approach every situation with compassion."

— Grace, age 18, San Marin High School

“I have not struggled with any of those obsessions from my eating disorder in 7 years…

I'm starting to believe that Beyond Hunger really works!"

— Female teen, program participant

“Learning to love yourself just the way you are is a message that Beyond Hunger brings to life in a powerful and thoughtful way...

Their message is strong and powerful; be your best person, instead of judging yourself or others learn to accept, and above all else, understand and value the person that you are."

— Teacher, 2014

“Beyond Hunger’s the only place, especially locally, that I’ve ever found that incorporates other peers

into the work they do and has the peers help each other out.”

— Female teen, Peer Educator Program

Get Involved

  • For Students

    Join our peer educator training program to become a powerful advocate for eating disorder prevention in your community. Through comprehensive training, you'll develop professional skills and leadership abilities while transforming your personal experience into support that changes lives. 

    Apply to Become a Peer Educator

  • For Teachers & Schools

    Schools play a vital role in eating disorder prevention by bringing essential education into the classroom. By partnering with Beyond Hunger, you can provide your students with crucial prevention education that complements your health curriculum and supports their wellbeing. 

    Schedule a Presentation

  • For Supporters

    As Marin County's only peer education program dedicated to eating disorder prevention, your support is crucial to reaching over 2,000 students annually with life-changing education. Your donation directly enables us to train peer educators and provide this essential prevention program to schools who lack funding. 

    Support Our Program