Ep. 63: Parent Letters for Diet-Free Schools with Johanna Kandel and McCall Dempsey

Anna Lutz and Elizabeth Davenport have a conversation with Johanna Kandel, founder and CEO of the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness, and McCall Dempsey, founder and director of Southern Smash. Sunny Side Up Nutrition and the Alliance teamed up to create five parent letters that can be customized and downloaded as a tool for advocacy when diet culture shows up in schools.

They discuss:

• The pervasiveness of diet culture and how it shows up in schools. 
• Where the idea for the five letters originated.
• The contents of each letter: 
  • Introductory Letter to Your Child’s Teacher
  • Letter regarding School Weigh-Ins
  • Letter regarding a Harmful School Assignment with Diet Culture
  • Letter regarding Food Police in the School Cafeteria
  • Letter requesting your Child Opt-Out of An Assignment
• Specific examples of when a parent may use these letters to advocate for diet-free schools. 
• Resources for parents available from the National Alliance for Eating Disorders.

Links: 

• Support the Podcast — Virtual “Tip Jar”!
• Link to Letters on SSUN Website
• National Alliance for Eating Disorders
• Johanna Kandel
• McCall Dempsey
• Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy
• Pinney Davenport Nutrition
• ThirdWheelED
• m8 designs
• Sonics Podcasts

Johanna Kandel is the CEO and founder of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders. She is also the immediate Past President of the Board of Directors for the Eating Disorders Coalition, member of the Academy for Eating Disorders Advisory Board, founding board member of the Eating Disorders Activist Network, and a member of the Eating Disorders Leadership Summit. She is an active participant in National Eating Disorders Awareness Month.  She has received many awards for her ongoing outreach and advocacy work, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service© and Harlequin Enterprises’ More Than Words Award.  Johanna has appeared on national television programs including NBC Nightly News and The Today Show, and profiled in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Glamour Magazine. Johanna’s book, Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder, was released by Harlequin Nonfiction in September of 2010. Success to Johanna means helping even one person avoid traveling down the same road she did and continuing to use her voice in the fight against eating disorders.

McCall Dempsey, founder of Southern Smash a program of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, is an eating disorder survivor and passionate recovery advocate. After a 15-year battle, McCall sought treatment in December 2010. Since then she has made eating disorder awareness and prevention her life’s work and passion. McCall travels the country, sharing her story of hope and healing with audiences everywhere. From high school auditoriums to treatment centers to corporate meetings, her message of authenticity and embracing your inner-uniqueness transcends all ages. McCall also writes the popular blog, Loving Imperfection. Her writing has been featured in various national television, print and online publications, including Today Show, Women’s Health, Southern Living and Huffington Post. A Louisiana native, McCall now resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with her husband, Jordan, and her two children, Manning and Marjorie.