Can We Talk About Kids, Food and Body Image?

Send us Fan Mail We're BACK! It has been a hot second since we last recorded an episode together and of course we're starting with an emotionally charged subject, just to get you thinking. In this episode, we spoke about the messages kids absorb from our own relationship with food and our bodies. How do we feel if our child or a friend's child gains weight?  Is it ever ok to talk about a child's weight, even if it from a place of concern? Key Takeaways from this episode:  Children hear far more than we think they do. They absorb a great deal from how we perceive our own bodies as well as our relationship to food and movement. A child's growing body isn't a problem to solve. Growth, including changes in weight and body shape, is a normal part of childhood and puberty. Our own fears/ fatphobia can affect how we see our children. Sometimes our fears are more connected to our experiences of diet culture, weight stigma or our own body image  Curiosity is more useful than judgement. Instead of immediately thinking “They're eating too much,” can we get curious about what is going on for the child.  Eating for comfort can serve a purpose. Food can provide pleasure and comfort and the concern is when it becomes someone's only coping strategy. Parents aren't to blame. Parents are more often than not doing their damndest with the resources they have.  However, when you know better, you can do better. You don't have to have your own relationship with food sorted.  This is an important one. Working on it can also send a very valuable message to our children How can we help our kids realise that a changing body is not code for, "there's something wrong." Connection with the body matters. Movement can be an opportunity for children to experience being IN their bodies rather than just focussing on how they look And perhaps the biggest takeaway: the aim isn't to raise children who never think about their bodies. It's to help them develop a relationship with themselves, their bodies and food that isn't built around shame. RESOURCES: Fat Talk - Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture. Virginia Sole Smith Adultish, The Body Image Body for Life. Dr Charlotte Markey Embrace Your Features. Christina Testut Intuitive Eating for Teens. Elyse Resch  Support the show Please reach out if you would like some support with your relationship to food OR movement. Ela currently has limited spaces for Intuitive Eating coaching and if you'd like to reconnect with movement, contact Christine.  If you'd like exclusive access to our supporter-only channel click here. We appreciate you