Even the most body-positive parent with a strong knowledge of Health at Every Size can feel overwhelmed when their sweet child calls herself fat. We can talk about positive body image all we want, but when negative body thoughts inevitably find their way into our daughter's head, we may feel frozen and ill-equipped to respond. … Continue reading A mom’s letter to her daughter who called herself fat
Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms among teenagers and young adults. Many people spend at least an hour each day scrolling through their Instagram feed. This is a challenge for parents, since Instagram is full of false claims and fake news about health and wellness. It is a veritable hotbed of diet … Continue reading Teaching your child media literacy in the age of false claims and fake news on Instagram
Diet culture is a system that demonizes and hates fat. Diet culture tells us that even though 95% of diets fail, we should still maintain an endless pursuit of weight loss. Diet culture tells us that we'll only be healthy if we're thin, even though we know that thin doesn't equal health. Diet culture overrides … Continue reading What parents and educators need to know about diet culture, by Dana Suchow
Are you a rebel parent? Are you willing to break the current parenting expectations and bring a kinder, gentler, and more mindful approach to raising your child? Are you ready to help your child avoid, heal from, or reduce the severity of an eating disorder? If so, read on! Resolve to accept your child as … Continue reading New Year’s Resolutions for Rebel Parents
Giving gifts is a beautiful tradition, and most parents love the opportunity to shower their kids with presents on birthdays and holidays. If your child has an eating disorder, here are a few gift ideas. Reframing eating disorders Eating disorders, like all maladaptive coping mechanisms (including substance abuse, self-harm, and many behavioral addictions such as … Continue reading Three gifts to give your child who has an eating disorder
In no way does any family want to get the gift of an eating disorder. Nor does any family deserve to get the gift of an eating disorder. But that is quite beside the point. The point is that we have an eating disorder in our family. The question is not "what did we do … Continue reading The gift of an eating disorder
We all know that parents have a huge impact on how kids feel about themselves. After all, we are all somebody's children, and we can see how our own parents shaped who we are today. This is why it can be helpful to think about what we wish we had received from our parents and … Continue reading The validation that every child needs to hear from their parent
Eating disorders are perceived as disorders in which the person suffering wastes away and becomes skeletal in appearance. It is true that a rare minority of people who have eating disorders begin at a relatively low body weight and, upon engaging in disordered eating, rapidly lose more weight and become medically underweight. These people often … Continue reading How to know if your child is “sick enough” with an eating disorder
If you have a child who has an eating disorder, then you are likely seriously overwhelmed and stressed out. The best way to deal with this is to accept that having a child who has an eating disorder is really, really hard. Of course you're struggling! Don't try to deny the difficulties or ignore the … Continue reading 10 self-care tips if you’re struggling to deal with your kid’s eating disorder today
Dear Ginny, My daughter is on the heavier side. I do my best to help her love herself by telling her how much I love her and that she’s beautiful to me. The problem is other people. For example, every time we see my mother she mentions my daughter’s weight. Sometimes she does this right … Continue reading Ask Ginny: What can I do when Grandma fat shames my kid?
