5 Things I Wish Every Parent Knew About Nutrition: From an Eating Disorders Registered Dietitian

I’m a Registered Dietitian that specializes in eating disorders and the mother of 3 children.  Through my over 20 years of clinical work with families of children with eating disorders, adults with eating disorders who used to be children, and parents with their own eating disorder history, I have witnessed the influence our culture has on children and how they feel and think about their bodies and the food they eat. 

Photo by Juliane Liebermann on Unsplash

Eating disorders are not caused by parents.

There are many risk factors of eating disorders. There is a strong genetic component of eating disorders and other risk factors include perfectionist personality traits, dieting, trauma, food insecurity and exposure to media.

Dieting and exposure to diet culture’s messages are risk factors that we, as parents and as a culture, have the power to control. 

Diet culture is everywhere.

Dieting and restrictive messages are commonplace and, as a society, we often think the messages about weight loss and eating less are positive and even healthy.

The more parents know about the risks of diet culture’s message, the more potential we have to prevent eating disorders or at least identify them sooner. The sooner an eating disorder is identified, the more likely and quicker an individual recovers.

Through my work as a Registered Dietitian I have seen when reg flags of eating disorders are misinterpreted by parents and healthcare providers because of diet culture. Diet culture often praises the very behaviors and outcomes that are a part of eating disorders. 

5 Things I wish every parent knew about children’s nutrition: 

1. Weight loss in children is a red flag.

This is different from a child “slimming down” during puberty. A teenager’s body does change during puberty, and for some this may mean they appear slimmer. However, it coincides with a teenager growing taller and does not equate to weight loss.

Children should be gaining weight throughout their growth and development. If the number on the scale goes down, it’s important to assess why that is and if the teen’s nutrition needs to be investigated further. 

2. On average, children gain 40-50# in the 4 years around puberty. Some gain more, some gain less.

Given the messages we all hear about weight gain, it can be alarming when your child is gaining weight rapidly. Remember, weight gain during childhood is expected and a sign of health.

Puberty can be a challenging time for children and it’s best not to comment on weight gain or their body’s appearance. 

3. A change in a child’s eating, such as becoming a vegetarian, is not something to praise. 

It could be the beginning of an eating disorder. Diet culture tells us cutting out foods is always a positive thing. However, making major changes to one’s eating can be the early stages of an eating disorder.

If a teen is making a sudden shift from their family’s pattern of eating it’s a reason to stop and assess what is behind the change. 

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

4. Kids need a lot of food.

It’s okay if your child eats multiple bagels, waffles, or cookies. So often I hear concern from parents about the amount a child is eating. 

However, when we assess their intake, stage of development and activity level, the child is doing a great job meeting their needs, even though it’s significantly different from the amount diet culture tells us is acceptable to eat.

When you think about what your child is eating, is it through the lens of diet culture? Curious how to support your teen in eating well? Check out our post 5 Tips to Nurture Body Confidence and Trust in Teens. 

5. Don’t talk about your diet or body changes in front of children.

If you are a parent, grandparent, child care provider, teacher, or important person in a child’s life and dieting to lose weight, it’s important to remember the child in your life is learning from you.

Think about what you want to model about eating well and taking care of your body as your child grows up to be an adult themselves. 

References:

• Barakat S, McLean SA, Bryant E, Le A, Marks P; National Eating Disorder Research Consortium; Touyz S, Maguire S. Risk factors for eating disorders: findings from a rapid review. J Eat Disord. 2023 Jan 17;11(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s40337-022-00717-4. PMID: 36650572; PMCID: PMC9847054.
• CDC – National Center for Health Statistics – Homepage, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ 
• Gorrell S, Hail L, Reilly EE. Predictors of Treatment Outcome in Eating Disorders: A Roadmap to Inform Future Research Efforts. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2023 May;25(5):213-222. doi: 10.1007/s11920-023-01416-w. Epub 2023 Mar 30. PMID: 36995577; PMCID: PMC10360436.

Looking for more information about diet-free parenting?

Check out our post 10 Truth We Want Parents to Know About Food and Bodies.