Health and sustainable development are two urgent and global issues that need to be addressed by all societies. They are also an important part of school curricula and present in everyday teaching. Hence education has a key function in qualifying and socialising students to become active individuals and citizens. Accordingly, health and sustainable development should be considered as both science and social science issues. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how health and sustainable development are described in Swedish textbooks for biology, science and physical education and health. The theoretical point of departure is the distinction between individual and societal/political responsibility. The chapter argues that the textbooks create what we call a ‘paradox of responsibility’. This means that the problems are de-politicised (individualised) and that responsibility is placed on the individual rather than on the societal/political level even when such solutions are needed. How textbooks portray such science and social science issues is of great importance since it influences students’ understanding of the problems and their thinkable solutions. We argue that health and sustainable development in school should always be portrayed as both individual and societal/political issues to empower students to deal with them in an adequate way.