Episode 62: Food & Body Image: How to Help our Kids Develop a Healthy Relationship

In all that parenting demands, it may be challenging to incorporate a regular healthy diet for you and your children.  Diet goes beyond food and extends to the attitudes toward eating, food and our bodies. How can you help yourself and your child develop a healthier mindset toward food and their body? In this episode, Jodi and her guest - Gila Glassberg discuss intuitive eating and how you can set yourself and your family up for success. About Our Guest:Gila Glassberg is a Master's level registered dietitian and a certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. As a teenager, she was faced with constant diet talk, body shaming and obsessive guilt around food. This led to years of struggling with disordered eating. This is what propelled her into the field of nutrition.She uses a non-diet, weight-neutral approach called Intuitive Eating. She helps growth oriented  women break out of chronic dieting, and regain clarity into what is really important to them.You can find more of Gila’s interviews, blog posts and information on her website at www.gilaglassberg.com and you can follow her on Instagram @gila.glassberg.intuitiveRDShow Notes:4:31 What is intuitive eating?“Kids learn best by modeling, the first thing we can do is work on the mom’s relationship to food before we work on the child’s relationship to food.”8:02 Why children need to look at food in a neutral way“One of my main goals is to neutralize food, yes I want it to be positive, but first and foremost neutral. Just like you don’t feel guilty going to the bathroom, just like you don’t feel guilty when you breathe, these things that you need to live, there really shouldn’t be any guilt associated with eating.”14:26 Intuitive eating in parents versus the feeding model for children“We want to instill autonomy in children over their eating and in their body.”17:52 Fostering a healthy attitude towards food in children“We feel so entitled to judge people based on their body size and I really want people to really reconsider that. Think about how much you’re emphasizing the way that you look, the way that you want your child to look, versus who they are as a person.”22:12 Dealing with outside negativity“If someone makes fun of him for his weight it will hurt, but it won’t penetrate into his soul if he feels a sense of love and confidence from his parents.”25:43 Normalizing child behaviors and asking questions“You can say to your kid ‘well what’s wrong with being fat?’... a lot of times we do something and we have no idea why and a lot of times we say things and we have no idea why… kids are just so smart and intuitive, and they can teach of so much about ourselves.”29:13 Closing thoughts“We only have a certain amount of headspace, and if we’re filling it 75% up with ‘What am I eating? How skinny am I?’ you’re really losing out on what life has to offer.”Credits:Host: Jodi FriedGuest: Gila GlassbergEditors: Iris Nelson and Maximus Quirino