Today we’re talking about kids and weight, and how your body kindness practice can help the younger ones you love and even families that you don’t know. This is a touchy subject to say the least, but there’s been some changes recently that could make an impact on our population’s health. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have just updated their 2007 Guidelines on prevention of obesity and eating disorders in adolescents. Their new recommendations are dramatically different and make us excited that we could finally start changing the conversation around weight and dieting. Listen on to find out how you can be part of the change. Here's what we talked about… I opened with a story about a friend who was at the doctor’s office with her young son. She was shocked when the doctor commented on the son’s weight and poked his belly. This was an active kid, part of a family where wellbeing is woven into their values. But the doctor didn’t ask about lifestyle - he just made the judgment. This situation is not uncommon and is reflected in the previous AAP Guidelines. In 2007 it was okay to use the term obesity relating to children despite evidence that the term was more harmful than helpful. It also recommended to put “overweight” kids on commercial weight loss programs, and in some cases even recommended weight loss surgery. I said that as a culture a real shift will happen when we stop seeing bodies as problems and accept size diversity. We talked about the dramatic shifts in the 2016 AAP guidelines. Until now dieting has been presented to the medical community as the solution to childhood obesity. But dieting leads to weight cycling, obesity and/or eating disorders. Fifty years of research show that eating disorders are the most deadly mental illness. How we can be so accepting of dieting when the evidence shows it leads to eating disorders and depression, is associated with bullying and even suicide? That’s why it’s so important that these guidelines are going in the right direction. The new guidelines acknowledge that dieting, weight talk and weight teasing are harmful and associated with obesity and eating disorders. Here’s some statistics to get the alarm bells ringing: the AAP also found that dieting behaviours were associated with a two-fold increase in risk of being overweight and 1.5 fold increase in incidence of binge eating. Parents who talked about weight had adolescents who were more likely to engage in dieting, unhealthy weight control behaviours and binge eating. The new guidelines discourage physicians from talking about weight with their patients but instead encourage focus on behaviours. If we can embrace size diversity accept there will always be bigger kids, we can accept that it’s really about well being and feeling good about our habits. If you’re not feeling good about your habits, that’s the work. How you get there is through the practice of body kindness - not dieting. Links My essay: Why the New Rules for Talking to Kids About Weight is a Really Big Deal - http://bit.ly/2cukVf3 My advice to parents worried about their kids weight - http://bit.ly/2cwIFM9 American Academy of Pediatrics latest guidelines - http://bit.ly/2culw03 For more links visit http://bit.ly/bk-ep12 --- You can subscribe to Body Kindness on iTunes and Stitcher. Enjoy the show? Please rate it on iTunes! - http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1073275062 Are you ready for Body Kindness? Get started today with my free e-course and on-demand digital training. Learn more - http://bit.ly/2k23nbT The New York Times Book Review calls Body Kindness “simple and true”. Publisher’s Weekly says it’s “a rousing guide to better health.” http://bit.ly/2k228t9 Watch my videos about why we need Body Kindness on YouTube. https://youtu.be/W7rATQpv5y8?list=PLQPvfnaYpPCUT9MOwHByVwN1f-bL2rn1V Did you enjoy the podcast? Please subscribe and rate it. Have a show idea or guest recommendation (even yourself!) E-mail podcast@bodykindnessbook.com to get in touch. Nothi