Ep. 73: The New American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines with Katja Rowell, MD

Anna Lutz sat down with Katja Rowell, M.D., a family doctor, author, and responsive childhood feeding specialist to talk about the new AAP guidelines.

They discuss:

  • What pediatric clinical practice guidelines are and why the AAP releases them periodically.
  • The details of the recently released clinical practice guidelines for pediatricians and family doctors.
  • The deep flaws in the data and information used to formulate these guidelines.
  • How using weight or body size as a barometer for health means that healthcare providers often miss what else may be going on for a patient. 
  • Advice for pediatricians or family doctors to practice through a weight-neutral lens.
  • The ways in which dietary restriction for children in order to get a particular weight outcome is harmful, almost always backfires, and has a negative lifelong impact.
  • Advice for parents to navigate kids’ pediatric well visits.

Links: 

Katja Rowell M.D. is a family doctor, author, and responsive childhood feeding specialist. Described as “academic, but warm and down to earth,” she is a popular speaker and blogger and has appeared in numerous publications. Katja has developed an expertise in anxious and avoidant eating (including ARFID), food preoccupation, and supporting foster and adopted children. Katja is on the SPOON medical advisory board and founder of The Feeding Doctor. Her books include: Helping Your Child with Extremely Picky Eating: A Step-by-Step Guide to Overcoming Selective Eating, Food Aversion, and Feeding Disorders, and Love Me, Feed Me. Learn more about Katja at theFeedingDoctor.com