Ep 109: How to Help Kids Build a Positive Relationship with Food & Their Bodies

In a world where kids are exposed to harmful messages about food, exercise, and body image earlier than ever, how can we as parents protect them—and empower them—to build a healthy, confident relationship with their bodies?

In this episode of Breaking Body Biases, we dive into the real and often subtle ways diet culture shows up in children’s lives—from school and social media scrolls to family gatherings and doctor’s offices.

You’ll learn:

• What diet culture sounds like coming from your child
• How to respond when your child makes a negative comment about their body or food
• Why “healthy eating” isn’t always healthy messaging
• Practical tips for navigating school, sports, and family events
• How to model a positive relationship with food and movement—even if you're still working on it yourself

Whether you're a parent, caregiver, or someone who works with kids, this episode will give you the tools to raise body-literate, confident kids in a culture that doesn’t always support them.

🔗 Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

🧠 Helpful Books, Website, & Resources: 📚

• "Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture" by Virginia Sole-Smith
  A compassionate and practical guide to helping kids resist body shame and embrace body autonomy.
• "More Than a Body" by Lexie & Lindsay Kite
  Great for parents and teens—focuses on shifting the value of our bodies from how they look to what they can do.
• "Intuitive Eating for Every Day" by Evelyn Tribole
  Offers daily practices to support a non-diet approach to eating—for adults and to model for children.
• “The Body is Not an Apology” by Sonya Renee Taylor
  A powerful read for building your own body acceptance and passing that wisdom on to the next generation.
• The Nutrition Tea with Shana Minei Spence MS, RDN, CDN 
• The Body Image Book for Girls and the Body Image Book for Boys both by Dr Charlotte Markey
• All Bodies are Wonderful: Use Science to Celebrate Everyone's Body! by Beth Cox
• Every Body Is Different by by Miriam Moore-keish (Author), Alejandra Ruiz (Illustrator)
• Embrace Your Body by Taryn Brumfitt
• Grow Up and Love Your Body by Sarah Weston
• A Kids Book About Body Image by Rebecca Alexander
• Finding Peace with Your Body: A Body Image Guide for Women by Johanna Kulp
• Virginia Sole-Smith’s Burnt Toast newsletter
  Excellent ongoing content on parenting and diet culture.
• More Than a Body – Body Image Resilience
  Research-backed strategies for building media literacy and self-compassion.

💬 Let's Connect!

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