On this episode, I welcome back Jessica Gust. She is a mother and Pediatric Dietician (@elementnutrition.kids on Instagram).

We discuss when percentiles are helpful, how they should be used, why we both don’t love BMIs, how we tie in eating habits to body image, and how we can create a healthy body image for our children.

00;00;06;25 – 00;00;37;00

Dr. Mona

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the PedsDocTalk podcast. I’m your host, Doctor Mona, where each week I hope to educate and inspire you in your journey through parenthood with information on your most common concerns as a parent and interviews with fellow parents and experts in the field. My hope is you leave each week feeling more educated, confident and empowered in the decisions you make for your child.

 

00;00;37;03 – 00;01;01;04

Dr. Mona

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode where I am welcoming back Jessica Gust. She was on my podcast when I first started the podcast. She is a pediatric dietitian on Instagram as Element Nutrition Kids. I will add that to my show notes and we are talking about BMI percentiles and body image in our children. Thank you so much for being here today, Jessica.

 

00;01;01;07 – 00;01;05;06

Jessica Gust

Thanks for having me. I’m honored to be back and glad to be chatting with you on this topic.

 

00;01;05;08 – 00;01;23;24

Dr. Mona

So we actually came up with this idea of having this episode when we recorded the last one, and we both really connected over how we look at body image for children and how the medical community is kind of guilty in how we approach body image with our children. And, you know, I see it as a pediatrician with my colleagues.

 

00;01;23;27 – 00;01;43;02

Dr. Mona

I’ve been guilty of it in the past when I first became a doctor. And as I started to realize more about body image and how we talk to children about their body, I realized that percentiles and BMI and talking about numbers, a lot of the times in our in our visits can lead to these issues with body image.

 

00;01;43;04 – 00;01;45;11

Dr. Mona

So I’m so glad we’re doing this today.

 

00;01;45;14 – 00;02;03;25

Jessica Gust

Yeah, I think it’s it’s something that all health care professionals probably have addressed in a way at some point, that they have been learned and wish that they maybe hadn’t done in the past. Or, you know, they they start to realize what’s actually happening with the kids, and then they discover kind of a new way of doing things.

 

00;02;03;25 – 00;02;21;01

Jessica Gust

And, and I think it’s just the natural progression because it’s not it’s not something that we learn about a lot in school. I don’t think, at least from my perspective. And so I think I really had to change my mindset about the whole thing as I started working with kids and seeing how those conversations were really impacting them.

 

00;02;21;04 – 00;02;43;18

Dr. Mona

Yeah, and in residency, you know, we are we are told. And also this is happens when we become actually practicing physicians, to document and code. Right. So we code over, we, we code obesity. We code BMI is we are kind of required to do this in some times. And not all practices require this. But in my current job, this is one of the things that they review.

 

00;02;43;19 – 00;02;59;03

Dr. Mona

They look at the numbers and they say, well did you code it for obesity? Did you code it for overweight? And I say, I don’t want to code it for that, because I don’t want to put that label on someone’s chart and they’re like, well, look at the numbers. I’m like, well, look at the family history. Look at the body type of the family.

 

00;02;59;03 – 00;03;14;09

Dr. Mona

I mean, every child is different. Everyone is built differently. And so I don’t want to create the sort of labeling system because it really can cause a lot of problems for children and how they look at their bodies. Why are you passionate about this topic?

 

00;03;14;12 – 00;03;39;11

Jessica Gust

I feel like I feel like my passion for this topic has really grown over the years. When I first became a dietitian over ten years ago, one of my first jobs, or one of the first things I did at a lot of my internship was start working very closely with a pediatric clinic and, you know, right out of the gate, I was gung ho about helping these families, and I was teaching them in the food groups, and I was helping trying to, you know, help them make healthy swaps.

 

00;03;39;11 – 00;03;54;06

Jessica Gust

And I was doing all the things that you just talked about. I was reviewing growth charts with them, and I was talking about these things and, you know, I was doing what I thought I was supposed to be doing. And then over time, I started to notice something in the kids that were coming in to see me.

 

00;03;54;16 – 00;04;13;17

Jessica Gust

And just as a little background to, I would say, probably 90 to 95% of the referrals I got at this clinic where referred to me with a diagnosis code of overweight or obesity, just like you were saying. And part of that is related to insurance things. Unfortunately, but also because of how doctors are trained and taught as well.

 

00;04;13;17 – 00;04;44;25

Jessica Gust

So, you know, I was getting these referrals for overweight and obesity and so I was like, okay, this is the issue that, you know, we need to address. We need to talk about. But what I started to notice is, and, you know, it’s not something I picked up on right away, but over time, I was seeing these kids come in, and I remember vividly, there’s been a lot of them, but there’s this one girl that I will never get out of my head, but she literally walked in with her mom, and they sat down in the chair, and she stared immediately at her feet.

 

00;04;44;25 – 00;05;03;25

Jessica Gust

She did not make eye contact with me and look at her mom. And I could tell the mom was just really overwhelmed being in the office, and she was really afraid of what I was going to say. I think, you know, she had been with the pediatrician who, I later found out was pretty firm about how, you know, she was really high in her weight.

 

00;05;03;25 – 00;05;18;16

Jessica Gust

She needed to lose weight and, you know, started talking about all of the things that can happen to people that are have too much weight on their bodies. And, you know, that’s really scary for a child, first of all. But then the shame, I think, you know, just the looking at the feet, it was just like I just immediately saw the shame in her.

 

00;05;19;02 – 00;05;55;11

Jessica Gust

And, it broke my heart. And the mom started crying in that appointment, and she’s like, she was blaming yourself. And she’s like, I can’t believe I let this happen. And I was like, oh my gosh, something has to change here. And, you know, from that day forward, I really spent a lot of time, kind of delving into research on, you know, body image and how we can help kids who, you know, maybe identified by the doctor as overweight or obese, how we can actually help them make healthy lifestyle changes without creating the stigma around the number on the scale that the, quote, fatness or, you know, whatever the this feeling is

 

00;05;55;11 – 00;06;27;09

Jessica Gust

that they’re having. And so that was kind of where things really started to change for me. And obviously I’m a mom myself now, and I’m very conscious of how I want to raise my, my own child. And I don’t ever want, negative body image issues happening there either. So, I think there’s a lot to it, but that that was just a little bit about where my passion kind of has come from, just experience of working with, you know, so many kids and just seeing that look on their face when they feel like they’ve done something wrong and, you know, it’s their body, they shouldn’t feel that way.

 

00;06;27;12 – 00;06;54;27

Dr. Mona

Yeah, I completely agree with that. I’ve had so many situations also where I have talked to families about the weight, and I’ve had situations where the parents are upset that I’m not calling the child overweight, that they’re upset at me for saying, well, you need to put the put the rules down. And I say I was like, I am saying that we need to work on some things to create good lifestyle choices, but I am not putting this child on a diet and saying that we need to be a certain weight by a certain time frame, because that is where we fail, right?

 

00;06;54;27 – 00;07;15;05

Dr. Mona

When we try to create an expectation that you’re going to lose 20 pounds by a month and you don’t lose 20 pounds in a month, you’re going to feel like a failure when you’re not a failure, because that’s how weight loss works, right? So I tell families I I’ve had it, and that’s what makes me actually more upset when the parents are kind of against me and that they’re like, well, you need to that you’re the doctor.

 

00;07;15;09 – 00;07;29;12

Dr. Mona

You need to say that they can’t have the snacks and they can’t do this. I’m like, I agree that there needs to be some limitations. But, you know, we’ll get I know we’re going to get into more of your tips. But there needs to be understanding that we’re not looking at food as a reward. We’re not looking for food as labels.

 

00;07;29;12 – 00;07;46;16

Dr. Mona

We’re not looking at it like this. We’re just trying to create a better lifestyle so that we can have more energy. We can sleep better so that we’ll get to the weight that we’re meant to have. And I always talk about it like that because I’m like, you cannot expect to be a size two if that’s not what your body habitus is, and vice versa.

 

00;07;46;16 – 00;08;04;20

Dr. Mona

I know children who are on the other end of the spectrum, who are in the lower percentiles, who want to be more curvaceous, who want to be on the higher percentiles, and they just can’t gain the weight. So that’s a personal experience. Also, in that I was always my BMI was always labeled as underweight. So my whole life I was told that I’m too skinny.

 

00;08;04;21 – 00;08;25;23

Dr. Mona

Why why do you exercise? Why do you eat healthy? You can have junk food because you’re skinny. And this is a real problem. Because regardless of what a person looks like in terms of the numbers and you know, the scale that we’re looking at, it is about how we look at food as a, as a thing that sustains us and how we view our body image, whatever that body type is.

 

00;08;25;23 – 00;08;53;10

Dr. Mona

Right? So whether you’re super thin, whether you are on the higher percentiles, whatever that is, I have seen children on both ends of the spectrum. I’ve seen children even on the middle like 50 percentile when and we’ll get into percentiles in a bit and they are not happy with their body. So it really is a really a conversation of understanding that regardless of where you are on a curve or where you are and that number on the scale body image issues happen regardless.

 

00;08;53;10 – 00;09;07;24

Dr. Mona

And I think it’s important that we understand that. And really creating a healthy relationship with food, that’s minimal pressure, that’s, you know, really just kind of embracing food as a thing that sustains us versus, you know, negative or positive thing.

 

00;09;07;26 – 00;09;15;02

Jessica Gust

Absolutely. And that pretty much touched right there on, you know, what body images and just that whole mental component to.

 

00;09;15;05 – 00;09;25;22

Dr. Mona

Yeah. So elaborate. More like, what would you say body image is in your opinion? You know, when you describe it to your, you know, your clients, or how you view it in your own, mind?

 

00;09;25;25 – 00;09;47;01

Jessica Gust

I think it’s all about how, we feel about ourselves and what our mind tells us about our bodies. So just like you were saying a few minutes ago, our body image doesn’t necessarily reflect the outward appearance or the actual size. It’s more about that mental component, because we know that there are people who are in very you know, what what people consider thin bodies who have a very negative body image.

 

00;09;47;03 – 00;10;09;25

Jessica Gust

And there’s people in large bodies that have a very good body image. So body image has very little to do with the actual way the body looks in it, and more to do with the mindset around it, how we feel about ourselves, how we see ourselves. And I think a lot of that develops over time by what we’re exposed to, who were around, what people are telling us.

 

00;10;09;25 – 00;10;34;19

Jessica Gust

And that’s just one of the reasons why, if you like, how we’re talking to families and kids about their size in the medical setting and health care setting, or even in our own homes with our kids, is so important because they develop these thoughts over time based on what they’re kind of exposed to. And of course, you know, there’s so many outside influences now media, social media, all of those things that, you know, really can affect that.

 

00;10;34;19 – 00;10;35;19

Jessica Gust

And kids.

 

00;10;35;21 – 00;10;45;19

Dr. Mona

As a nutritionist, what are your thoughts about percentiles in general, like when do you find them useful? When do you think that they’re, you know, have limitations? What are your thoughts on them overall?

 

00;10;45;22 – 00;11;09;10

Jessica Gust

So I actually, I use percentiles all the time. So I am not against using the percentile charts. I just don’t use them as a talking point with, with kit. I use them more as an assessment tool. So I think and and obviously that’s what they’re intended for, their intended to be used as more of a tracking or thing that you can use, along with other factors to look at the whole picture.

 

00;11;09;10 – 00;11;36;12

Jessica Gust

They’re not supposed to be this, you know, all in all encompassing. You look at the chart and this is exactly what’s happening, and there’s a problem because it’s there. You have to look at it and look at trends over time. So, pretty much whenever and, and I’ve come from a combination of settings, the community setting where I’m, you know, working with families on an outpatient level or like in an office doing counseling and also from a more clinical setting as well.

 

00;11;36;12 – 00;12;02;16

Jessica Gust

So working with kids that have specific health concerns. And so we do have to use those percentiles, those charts, as a way to track change. But I don’t necessarily think it’s something that we should be talking about. Two children or in front of children as much as possible. So, just to give you an example of kind of how I use it, when I’m, when I’m working with someone, I might be looking at, you know, their weight and their height.

 

00;12;02;16 – 00;12;23;12

Jessica Gust

I might be plotting it on the graph. And what I’m usually looking for is where those plots look over a period of time. So I want to look at many plots and whether they’re in a high percentile or a low percentile, I’m more looking for how they’re tracking. Are they consistently in that percentile, whether it’s higher or lower, or is it jumping all over?

 

00;12;23;12 – 00;12;45;03

Jessica Gust

So I have seen some situations where, you know, kids will come to me and I will look at their past weights and heights and where they are now, and I’ll see, like a very sharp upward spike in the weight, for example. And so what I’m going to do next is I’m going to try and figure out what was happening in the home setting or in their life that might have caused that spike.

 

00;12;45;03 – 00;13;00;02

Jessica Gust

So I’m not going to just say, oh, the, you know, the spike went up. They’re now in a high percentile. They’re overweight and obese. There’s a problem. I want to figure out why that happens. And I want to make sure that it is in fact, you know, accurate that those plots are right, that those weights were were correct.

 

00;13;00;22 – 00;13;14;27

Jessica Gust

So you want to look at more of a big picture thing, look at trends over time and say when kids are lower. So if they’re in a lower percentile, a lot of parents are like, oh my, my child’s only in the fifth percentile. Can you help me get them to gain weight? And I’m like, well, you know what?

 

00;13;14;27 – 00;13;42;05

Jessica Gust

They’ve been in the fifth percentile for quite a while. There’s not necessarily something wrong with that. If they’re, you know, getting enough nutrition and they’re eating, you know, what they need for their own growth. If their height is tracking. Okay. So I like to look at both weight and height, look at consistency of the curve, and use that information along with what I talked to the families about to assess the overall picture, versus just saying, oh, it’s high or it’s, it’s low, it’s a problem.

 

00;13;42;08 – 00;13;45;13

Jessica Gust

So that’s kind of how I use the percentiles.

 

00;13;45;15 – 00;14;05;00

Dr. Mona

And same with me. And I know some pediatricians don’t, and I can’t speak for every pediatrician. I just can only speak for myself. And what I would hope more pediatricians would use the percentiles for that. It really should be like you said, a trend, you know, tracking trends versus saying, okay, so you’re the 90th and that’s too high because that could be where they’ve been trending.

 

00;14;05;00 – 00;14;23;05

Dr. Mona

And if they’re coasting on the 90th and not going out of proportion or jumping off the charts or jumping too low, I’m happy with that. And I tell families that if they’re nice on the 90, on the 90th and they, you know, are doing a well-rounded diet and they’re doing exercise and doing everything, I’m okay. I don’t need you to make any changes because they’ve been ninetieths for their whole childhood.

 

00;14;23;16 – 00;14;44;01

Dr. Mona

But it becomes an issue when, you know, medically speaking, we look at percentiles also for the trends and for severe jumps to make sure we’re not missing anything that is medical, right. Like thyroid disorders. You know, celiac disease, different things that can cause us to see drops in the drops or fluctuations, increases in the growth chart.

 

00;14;44;01 – 00;15;03;00

Dr. Mona

So we really should be looking at trends. I also even from a young age, like I’m talking even from infancy, I don’t actually report percentiles. And I, I’m really big that I actually think a lot of this can start early, with how parents perceive the percentiles. Because as an infant, we think that higher percentiles are better, right?

 

00;15;03;00 – 00;15;22;01

Dr. Mona

Happy babies are cuter, quote unquote. But then what happens when they become children and then they’re in the higher percentiles? All of a sudden there’s this cultural shift. And it really bothers me, actually, because it really shouldn’t be like that. We all, like I said earlier, we’re all built differently. So I, I actually never report percentiles unless a parent wants to hear it.

 

00;15;22;06 – 00;15;44;22

Dr. Mona

And then I always say, what I want to tell you is how your child has grown since the last visit. So since the last visit, your child grew two inches and gained two and a half pounds. I’m very happy with this growth trending beautifully, and I tell my families why I don’t like percentiles because I have seen the disappointment on, you know, new parents faces when their nine month old comes in and is on the 48th percentile, and that’s amazing.

 

00;15;44;22 – 00;16;02;07

Dr. Mona

If they’ve always been on the 40th and they’re like, well, how do I get them to be, you know, on the 80th, I’m like, that’s not how this works. It’s not a competition. Yeah. Just to kind of go over percentiles for anyone who’s not familiar and who’s listening. When you say that someone’s on the 40th percentile and we have growth curves for men or sorry, boys and females.

 

00;16;02;11 – 00;16;25;17

Dr. Mona

And then there’s also specialized growth curves for things like for example, Down’s syndrome. But just say you say your boy is on the 40th percentile. That means compared to boys of his age, he is weighing more than 40% of them. Growth charts were last revised in the United States from the CDC in 2000, where they basically surveyed millions of bottle fed so formula fed and breastfed babies to look at the numbers.

 

00;16;25;19 – 00;16;57;26

Dr. Mona

The problem is, yes, it looks at different ethnicities, but my feeling about percentiles is that I’m Indian. Indian babies should have their own percentile graph because culturally we cannot be compared to people who are not Indian. We’re different. And I can’t stress this enough that even though they got so much data from all over, it’s really hard because I see so many Indian babies that come into my office, or even Asian babies who come in that are lower percentiles, and they’re like, well, why am I being told that I’m the fifth percentile when I’m healthy, like you said?

 

00;16;57;26 – 00;17;13;18

Dr. Mona

Right, right. And so I think it’s important that we understand like like we talked about that genetics play a huge, huge effect on on our body build and how we gain weight and how we, you know, trend on curve and that the percentiles should be looked at with a grain of salt that yes, we are going to look at trends.

 

00;17;13;18 – 00;17;32;22

Dr. Mona

You said it perfectly. If a child is on the fifth percentile and developing well and, you know, eating a variety of different things and exploring new things, that’s awesome. You don’t need to do any supplements. You don’t need to do anything differently. But it is a conversation with your pediatrician on, hey, where are we at right now? Where were we at last time?

 

00;17;32;26 – 00;17;41;07

Dr. Mona

And I kind of encourage families to start looking at that. Look at what you gained or what you trended versus where you’re at in terms compared to other people.

 

00;17;41;09 – 00;18;04;04

Jessica Gust

Yes, absolutely. And and we know that, you know, the, the percentile ranges, even things like BMI, they’re, they’re not always a, a great. Well, we know that they’re not and we know the BMI is not the best tool in general anyway. But there’s a lot of different, you know, cultures that it absolutely is off for because it’s just it just wasn’t intended for that.

 

00;18;04;04 – 00;18;24;22

Jessica Gust

And and you’re right, I really think there are there probably should be charts for a variety of different things, and not just like, putting everybody on to one chart because people were made their genetics, their, their, their backgrounds that they’re, they’re made to be different shapes and sizes. And, and you’re right, it often, is is underrepresented.

 

00;18;24;22 – 00;18;45;06

Jessica Gust

So for like you were mentioning, Indian and Asian children as well, as others, I mean, I could list a ton of a ton of different that I’ve seen and on both ends. So, like for, for you, I think you’re mentioning, you know, the smaller side, but also on the, on the larger side of things too. And kids that are otherwise very healthy but tracking higher.

 

00;18;45;21 – 00;19;00;07

Jessica Gust

And they get the stigma and, and it’s, it’s, it almost seems like it’s not fair. So, I, I agree, you got to look at the whole picture and look at more of trends. And that’s really what I think health health care providers need to be focusing on.

 

00;19;00;09 – 00;19;22;10

Dr. Mona

I appreciate you saying that because it is a huge problem. I see. And like I said at the beginning of this episode where, you know, we’re kind of asked because of insurance reimbursement and whatnot to code certain things because, yes, it does. You know, for the insurance company purposes that we have to but it’s it’s okay to code it, but it’s just important of how we discuss these words in front of our children.

 

00;19;22;17 – 00;19;40;18

Dr. Mona

And like I said earlier, in front of the parents, when the children are younger, where they may not be, you know, they may be toddlers that are not understanding what we’re talking about, because I want parents to also go into, you know, the eating ages and all of this with less anxiety and body positivity and body image awareness also.

 

00;19;40;21 – 00;19;58;06

Dr. Mona

Right? Because in the toddler years, how we approach feeding for our children can also be a reflection of our insecurities, right? So if we were told that we were too big or larger or too thin, and then when we were trying to feed our child, it subconsciously can cause difficulties with food, and how we feed our children.

 

00;19;58;06 – 00;20;20;01

Dr. Mona

So that is why I think it’s so important that we speak about this in terms of going downstream, you know, into that infancy, age, talking about trends and talking about, you know, BMI is something that’s done after two. So I’m happy that’s not even discussed that before, too. I don’t even like touching BMI. Yeah. I mean Ryan is considered under is the lowest BMI because he’s tall like mom and dad and he’s super lean.

 

00;20;20;06 – 00;20;36;01

Dr. Mona

And my colleague who takes care of him, I went and he was like, so his BMI is really low. And I looked at him and I was like, are you kidding me? Right now? I’m like, do you see me? And have you seen my husband? Like, we are tall, tall, tall and super lean. And I, my son is going to be lean too, you know.

 

00;20;36;01 – 00;20;57;09

Dr. Mona

So it’s so BMI is such a you know, I, I don’t like using it, like you said. We calculate it by looking at your, weight in kilograms divided by meters squared. But it really is not a good, good gauge in many, many children. And like you said, it does not take into consideration, certain ethnic populations.

 

00;20;57;09 – 00;21;20;20

Dr. Mona

And I am very fortunate that in my practice I take care of a very diverse population. And so I see this firsthand. I see the the medical bias that’s done with the BMI and from a young age, and how it really is disproportionately affecting certain racial, groups. And so I’m happy that you bring that up because it is a huge problem that the medical community eventually needs to address.

 

00;21;20;23 – 00;21;42;29

Jessica Gust

Yeah. It’s tough. And and not only that, but, you know, it really it does not take it not only the different, ethnic communities, but it doesn’t even take into account even within that, like your actual body composition, which is probably the biggest issue and flaw. I mean, you, you can look at somebody and you have no idea what their health is by, by the way that they look.

 

00;21;42;29 – 00;22;02;00

Jessica Gust

I mean, it doesn’t account for bone mass. It doesn’t account for muscle mass. It doesn’t differentiate between muscle and fat. So I mean, it’s really not telling you anything about health because we know that there I mean, I’ve seen it myself. I I’ll have somebody a child referred to me because they have a BMI indicating obesity or overweight.

 

00;22;02;00 – 00;22;28;13

Jessica Gust

And they’ll come and I’ll review what the parents, what they’re eating and, and they’re eating wonderfully and they’re playing sports. I specifically remember a kid one time that was a soccer player, and he was a solid kid, and I was like, oh, yeah, this is not this is not a BMI problem here. I mean, it’s like, it’s crazy that we’re labeling them with these numbers when, you know, it’s it just it really doesn’t give you a good indicator of body composition at all.

 

00;22;28;15 – 00;22;54;23

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And I love using that word solid. I use that word commonly because I think it’s a positive word. Also, it’s this child who is truly just a very solid kid, very solid toddler. And usually I see one of the parents or both parents, similar body habitus. But yeah. And I again, this is why this conversation is so important for people to hear, especially, you know, new parents that, you know, may have been told in their childhood that they were overweight or, you know, underweight or whatever.

 

00;22;55;04 – 00;23;10;04

Dr. Mona

Because I really want to, you know, remove that stigma of looking at the scale and looking at percentiles and looking at BMI as what defines our health. And so you do agree that percentiles in some ways maybe can impact body image from a young age, or what do you think about that?

 

00;23;10;07 – 00;23;33;28

Jessica Gust

I mean, I think they can impact body image if they’re being used as a discussion with kids. I think that health care providers, we can absolutely use percentiles and not have it impact body image if we know what our role is and what their role with their role as the percentiles role in our assessment. So I think that it doesn’t have to impact it, but I think it can because it ends up being a talking point.

 

00;23;33;28 – 00;24;08;05

Jessica Gust

And and primarily in my experience, it’s more the BMI talk that becomes an issue because BMI seems to be what gets focused on more, whether it’s a low BMI or a high BMI, because I’ve worked with a kids that are, deemed underweight as well, and they have a lot of, you know, self self-conscious feelings about how skinny their legs are or, or how they get teased at school because they’re so thin or so, like, just like you were saying it, it’s not something that, is just in kids that are on the higher end, it can be the lower end or the higher end, but that comes from, you know, it comes from

 

00;24;08;05 – 00;24;32;10

Jessica Gust

talking about it. And so if we’re not addressing it with families, if we’re not saying, hey, you know, your kid is, you know, overweight based on these charts, then I don’t think it’s an issue. But I think where it becomes a body image issues when it’s constantly brought up and it’s used as this negative point that brings about shame in kids, and that’s what they feel when we address it in a negative light.

 

00;24;32;12 – 00;24;52;01

Dr. Mona

That is such a great way of putting it. So obviously we know that food is some way related to body image. Why is it important to have a healthy relationship with food, and do you feel like you see a lot of this, you know, body image issues and how we consume food? Issues happen in children.

 

00;24;52;03 – 00;25;09;06

Jessica Gust

I do, and you know what a lot of this, as we touched on, kind of goes back to how parents were raised around food. I mean, we have parents that were overly restricted. And so then they learned to restrict their kids or, you know, the opposite, they have this had this situation where they could just have whatever they wanted all the time.

 

00;25;09;12 – 00;25;29;25

Jessica Gust

And so then they are like that with their kids, and then that can lead to other issues. But I think that, you know, part of that having a healthy relationship comes to a how we talk about food, and how we address it with our kids. So one thing that I see a lot, because I do commonly work with kids that are referred again on the higher end of the weight scale.

 

00;25;30;16 – 00;25;51;29

Jessica Gust

You know, parents get that fear because they’re like, oh, my kid’s high, which means I have to be higher on the policing side. I have to push everything they’re eating. They’ll. And I just had this actually happened recently with a client, and they were, you know, portioning out their food, and they were saying, you know, you, you know, not letting the the child have more of something because, you know, was too many carbohydrates.

 

00;25;51;29 – 00;26;10;05

Jessica Gust

Right? Or, you know, this, there’s too much fat in that. Or we have to cut out all of this or all of that. And that’s when I think it really becomes an issue, because then they start associating those negative feelings with their weight with specific foods, and then those specific foods create all of these other issues that carry on into adulthood.

 

00;26;10;07 – 00;26;38;02

Jessica Gust

And then a lot of those kids end up, you know, going the opposite way when they get somewhere like college, and then they overeat on all those food. So we have to really find a good balance. And what I think is important from my perspective as a dietitian is helping parents understand how they can help their kids, eat nutritious, a variety of nutritious food, which includes all foods, develop that healthy relationship and still maintain a healthy lifestyle.

 

00;26;38;02 – 00;26;58;09

Jessica Gust

So I there’s there’s a lot of steps to it, that that I go through when I work with families. And it’s not just, you know, a one size fits all type thing. But it really, I think, comes back to, you know, how the parents are reacting to and addressing food in the home. And a lot of that, you know, can only be positive if they’re if they’re educated on how to do it.

 

00;26;58;09 – 00;27;07;16

Jessica Gust

Because, you know, as parents, we don’t just there’s no manual unless someone helps you, teaches you. So it can be a it can be a tough situation with the food.

 

00;27;07;18 – 00;27;23;01

Dr. Mona

And I know there are probably, like you said, a lot of steps, but what are some maybe a few steps that we can do to create this healthy relationship with food? Maybe some of your most popular tips? When parents are trying to approach healthier eating, for a lifestyle, you know, a positive lifestyle.

 

00;27;24;00 – 00;27;48;09

Jessica Gust

Yeah. Well, I am pretty, pretty consistent with helping parents try and get their kids on a good meal schedule. That’s usually one of my first steps. You know, aside from all of the other assessment things that I do. But I think it’s really important that parents learn what kind of a normal schedule looks like because I’ve experienced often, you know, that, you know, kids have kids, says I’m hungry.

 

00;27;48;09 – 00;28;10;12

Jessica Gust

Okay. You know, let’s let’s eat. And they’re just eating all the time throughout the day, and they’re constantly snacking. And I find when that happens, they tend to be eating less at meals and more of kind of those snacky foods in the middle of the day that may or may not be as nutrient dense. And so some of those things can really add up to, I think parents, not having the, good versus bad mentality when it comes to food.

 

00;28;10;12 – 00;28;28;01

Jessica Gust

I think parents want to have rules. They want to learn how they can give their kids rules, but that ends up being hard to do sometimes because it ends up being something like, oh, this has sugar, this is bad. This is a vegetable, this is good. But in reality, we want to teach our kids that, you know, foods are kind of on a a level playing field.

 

00;28;28;01 – 00;28;49;05

Jessica Gust

There’s some that we maybe eat more often than others. And then the parents really have to, kind of help them fit all of those into their meal schedule. And then, of course, you’ve probably heard me talk about this a lot of times, as you know, maybe some people listening have to, the, the division of responsibility and feeding, by on Saturday.

 

00;28;49;05 – 00;29;07;21

Jessica Gust

It’s something that a lot of pediatric dietitians teach and use in their practice. And that basically means, you know, it’s the parent’s job to provide the food and to decide when it’s served. And that includes, like the time of day, the location, the sub to the child to ultimately decide if they’re going to eat it and how much.

 

00;29;07;21 – 00;29;41;16

Jessica Gust

So, I like to teach that to parents so that they can really, use that concept in their home along with the meal schedule and kind of that, not using that good versus bad mentality so that they can balance meals, they can, help their kids really develop that healthy relationship. And part of doing that is by letting the child be into control of how much they’re eating, because we know when we start restricting or limiting portions, it ends up backfiring because a lot of times we’ll see kids sneaking food or we’ll see them overeating when they have an opportunity.

 

00;29;41;25 – 00;29;58;13

Jessica Gust

And that’s not something we want to teach them to do either. So we want them to really learn to listen to their hunger and focus, and be in control of the, the how much when it comes to the food on their plate. So I would say those are some of the kind of initial basic principles that I teach over and over.

 

00;29;59;04 – 00;30;09;16

Jessica Gust

And of course, like I mentioned, there’s a few more steps in there and more details, but those are kind of some, some basics that I think are really important when it comes to a healthy relationship.

 

00;30;09;18 – 00;30;31;03

Dr. Mona

That is great. And about the snacking, right? I think that’s a huge thing I saw in the pandemic. You were mentioning earlier, like blips in, in the growth curve. I saw a lot of my patients, you know, go up significantly in their weight because in the pandemic, they were home a lot and they were bored or they had no physical activity or less physical activity than they normally did.

 

00;30;31;07 – 00;30;49;06

Dr. Mona

And so I saw huge spikes in weight. And it was it was it was good that the parents understood what was happening. Right? They said, okay, well, you know, we recognize this. And I’m like, yeah, it’s not I’m not guilting you. I’m not shaming you. This is I’m happy. You understand? I think this is important that we try to make some changes and they obviously will.

 

00;30;49;19 – 00;31;13;18

Dr. Mona

But what about the situations that I commonly do see to where we have the children who are maybe on the larger end of the percentiles and who are maybe over snacking or eating larger volumes. I don’t want us to put them on a diet per se, but how do we slowly begin to teach them about hunger cues like how do you even approach that when their bodies are used to eating higher volumes?

 

00;31;15;07 – 00;31;32;04

Jessica Gust

Well, how I approach it varies a little bit based on the age. Because obviously for a younger child, it’s going to be a little bit different than an older child who might be a little bit more independent. But the first step is getting them eating consistently. So if they’re snacking, snacking throughout the day, that’s part of the problem.

 

00;31;32;16 – 00;31;50;02

Jessica Gust

So I like to move most kids to a three meal, 2 to 3 snack schedule, where there’s good spacing. So it allows them to develop an appetite between meals, but it’s not so long that they’re so hungry that they, you know, just want to, you know, binge on everything that’s in front of them. So that’s the first step.

 

00;31;50;02 – 00;32;09;21

Jessica Gust

And then also I like to talk with parents about what’s actually being served at the meals. So, as a dietitian, I obviously teach nutrition. I go over the food groups, I talk about foods that are more satiating, meaning more filling. The ones that stay with you longer. Those are going to be foods that contain protein and fat, particularly, also fiber.

 

00;32;09;21 – 00;32;26;24

Jessica Gust

So if you have food that has more fiber versus more refined grains, it all has to do with how your body digests food and how long it takes for food to kind of pass through your body. So, and when I see kids and I see this a lot in kids that are on the picky end to, they’re eating a lot of refined carbs.

 

00;32;26;24 – 00;32;44;29

Jessica Gust

They’re not really into a lot of protein rich foods, or, sometimes even some of the fat rich foods they won’t eat, they are hungry faster. So they’re constantly snacking. But it’s it’s almost like this empty snacking because it doesn’t stay long. So one of the things that I like to talk about is, what’s actually being served at the meal.

 

00;32;44;29 – 00;33;07;21

Jessica Gust

So I like to talk with parents, make sure that they’re actually providing foods that are satiating so that they feel full. Because a lot of times what I’ll see is kids that are on, the higher end of the weight charts, parents will want to reduce the volume so much, or they’ll want to cut back on the fat, or they’ll want to cut back on, on, specific protein rich foods because they’re afraid those are the ones that are going to, like, impact their weight.

 

00;33;08;00 – 00;33;28;08

Jessica Gust

But in the reality when they do that, the kids get hungry faster and then it’s almost like they’re eating more volume. So, I like to talk with parents about how they’re actually balancing the plate, making sure there’s a protein rich food. There’s some fat there. I do like to talk with them about the difference between fiber and refined grains, because that helps with that full factor as well.

 

00;33;28;21 – 00;33;47;10

Jessica Gust

But I find that, you know, if there are kids that are overly snacking or where parents feel they are over eating, sometimes that can come down to the actual types of food on their plate. Because, you know, if there’s a food that doesn’t fill you up, you’re going to eat a lot more of it than if you have a more filling, meal on your plate.

 

00;33;47;13 – 00;34;05;16

Dr. Mona

Those are great tips. I really appreciate that because I think it’s so important, like we said earlier, to create this relationship of, hey, this is a good this is good food. We want to still incorporate all types of food. And you said that you’re incorporating, different, you know, satiating foods and not really eliminating certain things per se.

 

00;34;05;16 – 00;34;10;05

Dr. Mona

Right? Like they can still have different parts of the food group, but maybe not every meal.

 

00;34;10;07 – 00;34;25;16

Jessica Gust

Yeah. I mean, I want, I want parents, no matter where their kids weight is, whether they have a lower weight child, a child that they’re afraid that’s on the higher end of the weight or all children really know it doesn’t matter really what their weight is. You still want to have a good breakdown of food on their plate.

 

00;34;25;16 – 00;34;43;20

Jessica Gust

So I like to see parents have a fat and or a protein source at meal, a carbohydrate and a fruit and a vegetable if possible, as many meals as possible. So I like to see a variety of food groups on the plate, each meal. I mean, I’m not perfect either. I don’t have a vegetable for my child at every single meal.

 

00;34;43;20 – 00;35;09;01

Jessica Gust

It’s just not realistic. But the more variety you can serve, the more likelihood that you’re going to be hitting those key nutrients that they need. And, those fat and proteins are really going to provide a little bit more satiety. So, yeah, that’s that’s true. Regardless of weight. But I just find that a lot of times when parents are concerned about their, their kids weight, they feel like they need to, eliminate certain foods, particularly ones that might be higher in fat.

 

00;35;09;14 – 00;35;29;23

Jessica Gust

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, for kids that are lower weight, parents are wanting to like load up on the fats and and, you know, sometimes that’s needed. I do help parents learn how they can increase, you know, the caloric density of meals if needed. But we also don’t want to be like, you know, forcing these super high fat meals down our kids throats, either just because their weight is on the lower end.

 

00;35;29;23 – 00;35;52;04

Jessica Gust

So, how we approach the meal needs to be, you know, very, very neutral. As the parent, we provide the food and then they they kind of decide the rest. But, the composition and the breakdown is very important. And then one other thing I wanted to add too, regardless of the child’s weight, you know, a lot of times parents are, like, you know, okay, I’m going to cut out all chocolate.

 

00;35;52;04 – 00;36;11;01

Jessica Gust

I’m going to cut out all sweets, I’m going to cut out all juice. And I actually find that backfires most of the time. I do want to encourage, you know, if we’re, we’re dealing with kids that are on the higher end of the weight range, particularly if we’re trying to cut reduce some of the added sugars. Cutting back on juices and sodas and things like that obviously is a good idea.

 

00;36;11;03 – 00;36;34;06

Jessica Gust

But when you go, from them having it all the time to saying, oh, I’m going to cut it all out, it can be very confusing to the child. And then that’s almost what they want more. So, a better approach is to work with them on how it can be included throughout the week, but with a little bit more limits and boundaries versus just, you know, you know, I’ve had kids that can just go to the refrigerator and pour a glass of soda whenever they want.

 

00;36;34;06 – 00;36;50;22

Jessica Gust

Obviously, that’s not part of that schedule and boundaries that parents need to be setting. So that can be an issue. But that doesn’t mean they can’t ever have soda or they can’t ever have juice. And, and I find that, that sometimes where that that line is a little bit fuzzy. You know, parents sometimes want the all or nothing mentality.

 

00;36;50;22 – 00;36;54;15

Jessica Gust

And that’s actually kind of a negative thing when it comes to kids.

 

00;36;54;17 – 00;37;11;13

Dr. Mona

I’m sure you’ve seen this where the parents are trying to create this, but the child is older and just if there is access to sodas or sugar drinks and the family’s trying to maybe reduce it, and the child themselves just kind of goes and raids the fridge, what kind of tip or would you say a parent can do in that situation?

 

00;37;11;13 – 00;37;19;03

Dr. Mona

Where is it is at the time that maybe we remove it from the house? Or how do we approach those situations where boundaries are not being respected by the child?

 

00;37;19;03 – 00;37;42;09

Jessica Gust

Yeah. It’s a tough situation. I’ve seen that, I don’t have 100%, straight answer on that, because I do tend to change this based on the family that I’m working with. I have, with some families, had them stop bringing it into the home. Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that they stop serving it altogether.

 

00;37;42;09 – 00;38;01;16

Jessica Gust

So, for example, like, if they’re going out to dinner as a family, you know, allowing them to have to get the soda or instead of having, like, a gallon of ice cream in the refrigerator, go out to to the ice cream store and get an ice cream cone and allow them to do that. So you’re not like, saying we’re not ever having ice cream, but you’re limiting how much is in the house.

 

00;38;01;18 – 00;38;27;20

Jessica Gust

But on the flip side of that, we also know that when all things are eliminated from the house, it’s still creates this feeling of like desire and obsession on a kid’s heart. And when they are put into the situation where it’s available, obviously right now with Covid, things are a bit different. But before, like, a thing that I’ve seen is, you know, I had a family that, you know, cut everything out and their kid went to, I think it was like catechism or church.

 

00;38;27;20 – 00;38;49;17

Jessica Gust

And there was like a cookie table. And they pretty much sat there at the table the entire night and ate all the cookies. And obviously that’s not creating a good relationship either. So we really want to find a balance between, you know, them just having open access and having it all the time. And also having reasonable access where they’re allowed to still have the things that they want and not feel restricted.

 

00;38;49;17 – 00;38;58;08

Jessica Gust

So, and so that’s a really good question. And it’s one that I don’t have a straightforward answer to because it really changes, I think, based on the situation.

 

00;38;58;11 – 00;39;17;10

Dr. Mona

Well, I’m so glad we’re doing this because as you know, you being a dietitian, it’s I’m learning a lot also because I’ve been doing very similar things. But it’s nice to hear because you do this way more than I do. You know, I talk about weight often, but you talk about it in way more detail. So it is nice hearing your opinion because I also find that it is catered to what’s happening in the family.

 

00;39;17;10 – 00;39;34;17

Dr. Mona

What what boundaries are the family, the parents actually doing? What is the, you know, the nature of the child. It really is different. I do also recommend the, you know, occasion situation like, hey, if it’s a birthday party, we’re going or you’re going out to dinner on a Friday or taking getting takeout, then we can bring that into the home.

 

00;39;34;17 – 00;39;53;22

Dr. Mona

Or I love the idea you mentioned about the ice cream. I know that’s hard in Covid, but I find that that sometimes needs to happen in some situations. Not all. Because if you know, if there’s just an ability to create that boundary and the parents are truly trying hard, obviously how we approach food is not the only way we can foster a healthy body image.

 

00;39;53;22 – 00;40;00;07

Dr. Mona

I know that what are some other ways that we can kind of create a healthy body image for our children, as their parents.

 

00;40;00;10 – 00;40;19;01

Jessica Gust

I think the most powerful way that we can teach our kids anything is through example. And this is something that I work on on a daily basis because, you know, I am I am a woman and I’ve had my past, you know, issues as well. And I think we all have, you know, our own thoughts that we battle with at times.

 

00;40;19;01 – 00;40;39;03

Jessica Gust

But, you know, I know for me, I want my daughter to have a very positive body image. And so for me, that means trying my best not to make negative comments about myself. For other people, which, yeah, making negative comments about other people is not an issue for me. But I think we all have, you know, a tendency to be hard on our own bodies.

 

00;40;39;20 – 00;40;57;25

Jessica Gust

But, you know, I have experienced when, you know, seeing seeing parents make negative comments about another woman or another man or another person, and their kids are around and they, they pick up on those things. And I believe that the research shows that kids start, you know, really identifying differences in bodies at like 2 to 3 years of age.

 

00;40;57;28 – 00;41;17;14

Jessica Gust

And so, you know, as early as possible starting to, you know, just really make a commitment not to, you know, if you look at yourself in the mirror and, and, and you’re feeling down, you know, that’s normal. But trying not to say, oh, you know, I’m too fat or I’m too skinny or I don’t like the way this fit because of, you know, this reason or that reason.

 

00;41;17;14 – 00;41;37;25

Jessica Gust

And, I, you know, I know that’s really hard, but it’s I think it’s something that’s important because how we talk about ourselves, reflects on how their kids potentially think of themselves because we know our kids look up to us. And, you know, if we’re talking negatively about our bodies, they might think, well, gosh, you know, my mom thinks that’s negative about herself.

 

00;41;37;25 – 00;42;00;08

Jessica Gust

I wonder if that’s negative about me, too. And so I just think that one of the most powerful things that we can do as parents, or as people in general, is to try not to make, comments about people’s shapes or sizes in a, you know, negative way. I think teaching our kids that all bodies are different, and that’s what makes people unique and special.

 

00;42;00;08 – 00;42;17;04

Jessica Gust

I think that’s important. I think it’s important for kids to be exposed to people of different shapes and sizes and, you know, races, ethnicities, all of that. Because I think that’s how they learn that, you know, difference is normal and it’s a good thing.

 

00;42;17;06 – 00;42;35;07

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And it’s what makes us unique and beautiful. And I love that when you you put it one of the first posts when I joined Instagram of yours that I love was when you talked about, you know, what we talk about with our children in terms of what they’re doing and the awesome things that they’ve accomplished versus, you know, how they look or the appearances that they have.

 

00;42;35;07 – 00;42;52;05

Dr. Mona

I remember one of your posts, I was like this, great, this this account is amazing. This is awesome. Because it’s so true. You know, my my tip would be exactly that. Like how we view ourselves, how we view our partner also, I think is key. You mentioned how we talk about, you know, strangers or other people that we may not know personally.

 

00;42;52;21 – 00;43;10;03

Dr. Mona

But the partner situation, you know, I think sometimes I have seen many times where maybe the if it’s, you know, mom and dad relationship, the father speaking about the mother or even the mother speaking about the father in a certain way. There are instances that we we think that our partner may be certain way or we think ourselves, our ourselves should be a certain way.

 

00;43;10;08 – 00;43;30;20

Dr. Mona

And the children pick up on that. I am very big on this. And, you know, one of my biggest goals in parenting is teaching parents how to parent themselves before they become parents, meaning looking at their insecurities. And I mentioned that earlier in this episode, and a lot of it has to do with body image and whether you’re on the higher percentile or lower percentile, it’s huge.

 

00;43;30;20 – 00;43;53;13

Dr. Mona

And I find it really does go gender to gender, meaning, more so like, if you have a, say, a father and a son versus a mother and a daughter, we they tend to look up to the mother. Right? So if I, if I’m looking, if I have a daughter and I am saying to myself, you know, I’m this and I’m that, my daughter is going to say, well, mom keeps looking at herself like that, maybe I’m not beautiful enough.

 

00;43;53;13 – 00;44;11;06

Dr. Mona

And same thing when I see like, fathers and sons. You know, I, I do see that often that if a dad is insecure about their body, they’re going to be more insecure about their son’s body because the son is probably gonna have the same body. Yeah. And it’s it’s hard to see it. You know, I’ve seen that, you know, there is a psychology obviously, behind all this.

 

00;44;11;06 – 00;44;38;21

Dr. Mona

And obviously we talk about also the psychology of food, binge eating and how we approach food. There is a psychological component. And when you’re not happy with the body you have, it really affects just every part of your, you know, your life, your relationship with your partner or your relationship with your child, your relationship with food. And so I really, you know, my goal and my hope for all parents is that they can look at themselves in the mirror and be happy with the person that they are as they go through their parenting journey.

 

00;44;38;21 – 00;44;53;08

Dr. Mona

Because it really will help their child feel more confident and remove a lot of those insecurities that can affect the child, as they grow up. And I think that’s such a beautiful part of being a parent and that we learn about who we are and, you know, maybe the things that we need to work on.

 

00;44;53;11 – 00;45;20;06

Jessica Gust

Yeah. And I think it’s good for parents to remember too, that it’s a practice. It’s something that you have to constantly be working on because nobody’s perfect. We’re always going to have moments where we have negative feelings about ourself, and just because you have those negative feelings doesn’t necessarily mean you have a negative body image. That’s, you know, it’s normal to have those, but it’s just to work on how you are, displaying those feelings and how you are addressing them and how you’re working through them.

 

00;45;20;06 – 00;45;22;05

Jessica Gust

I think that’s that’s the important thing.

 

00;45;22;08 – 00;45;38;24

Dr. Mona

And one of the examples I give about body image it has to do with women is postpartum body image, right? I mean, I know we’re not talking about children, but I had posted a post about how I missed my old body, meaning when I was, you know, three months postpartum that I missed the things I was able to do.

 

00;45;38;24 – 00;45;56;05

Dr. Mona

And I had, you know, had pain now. And I got a mixed mix of comments. Some of them were like, I totally agree. Many of them were like, you know, we need to promote postpartum bodies. And, you know, it’s it’s important that we recognize that we we did something amazing. I, I, you know, I said I was like the fact that we are saying that it’s not okay to feel this way is also part of the problem.

 

00;45;56;05 – 00;46;15;17

Dr. Mona

Like we should be okay with the mother saying, I miss the body I have, and just the fact that she feels validated in that can help her do whatever she wants to do to whether that means, you know, working out whatever she wants to do to get the body she wants. And whether that is it takes you two years to get the body back, whether that means it took you two months, six weeks, I don’t care.

 

00;46;15;22 – 00;46;31;20

Dr. Mona

It’s not about what of race. On who got back their body at a certain time. It’s really about what the mom wants. It’s what the. What makes the mom feel happy. You know, I don’t. And so I’m very into that culture too, because we need to talk to each other as women and as mothers in a good body image.

 

00;46;31;20 – 00;46;47;23

Dr. Mona

Light too. And that, hey, if you want to work out and get that, you know, six pack right away, power to you. If you want to wait a little bit and you still are carrying baby weight two years after power to you, that is your amazing body that you chose. So I believe that the shaming goes both ways, right?

 

00;46;47;23 – 00;47;04;13

Dr. Mona

I mean, I’ve seen a lot of people get shame for getting their postpartum body back and then also the other way. And I say, you know, if that’s what they’re choosing to do, let’s applaud women for whatever they decide to do. I don’t care what they look like. I just want them to be happy and feel happy with the body image that they have.

 

00;47;04;13 – 00;47;20;23

Dr. Mona

And it really goes down to, like you said, how we look at each other, how we look at ourselves and our children are always watching. And they can, even if it’s in passing. It’s like you said, a work in progress. It’s recognizing that maybe next time I maybe won’t say that. And even if it happens again, okay, maybe I’ll keep working on it.

 

00;47;20;23 – 00;47;29;19

Dr. Mona

It’s you’re right. It’s such a work in progress. And it’s the beautiful part of being a parent and having children is that we’re always changing and and evolving.

 

00;47;29;21 – 00;47;46;15

Jessica Gust

Yeah. And and not beating yourself up about something if you realize that. Oh, maybe I said something that I shouldn’t have because. Yeah, I think it’s I think it’s very normal for you to miss something that you had in the past, but just because you missed something that you had doesn’t mean you’re not thankful for what you have now.

 

00;47;46;15 – 00;48;02;07

Jessica Gust

So and I think, I think it’s easy to to miss that, whether it’s, you know, it has to do with a postpartum body or even if it’s just like, you know, I don’t know, there’s there’s been times when I’ve just been totally overwhelmed in motherhood and I’m like, oh, man, wasn’t it so easy before kids when I could just, you know, sleep and do what I wanted?

 

00;48;02;22 – 00;48;23;06

Jessica Gust

But that doesn’t mean that, you know, I want to go back there just because, you know, you miss situation. So I think it’s I think it’s very normal to, you know, think about things in the past and, and sometimes have this, you know, missing feeling of it, but not necessarily that it’s a bad thing.

 

00;48;23;09 – 00;48;41;07

Dr. Mona

Now, I completely agree, Jessica. I mean, this is such a great conversation. And, you know, it’s, I think important, especially as we like, you know, approach the holidays and you know, how people like are going to be getting it together with families. We could do a whole other episode on, you know, how grandparents approach body image and, and the generational differences.

 

00;48;41;07 – 00;48;53;11

Dr. Mona

But I really want parents to have that confidence, you know, as they, you know, as a parent, their kids and as the year, as the years continue. What would be your final message for everyone listening today?

 

00;48;53;13 – 00;49;18;05

Jessica Gust

I mean, I just I just like parents to know that, you know, how your kids learn to love food in their bodies starts with you, starts starts with how you talk about things to how you approach things. And, ultimately what your kids need is your love and support. And, you know, they don’t they don’t need to be feeling, you know, restricted or feeling like they’ve done something wrong or shame surrounding food or their body.

 

00;49;18;05 – 00;49;32;04

Jessica Gust

So, you know, just just parents really focusing on how they can foster that, that healthy relationship, keep keep communication positive and, just, you know, focusing on how they talk to their selves and their kids.

 

00;49;32;06 – 00;49;54;05

Dr. Mona

Now, this is so great. I agree completely. And I’m so glad that we were able to do this episode in 2020. I know we decided, you know, at some point to do it. And I’m just so thankful for you. And I again, I think it was such a great conversation. Everyone listening. Follow Jessica at Element Nutrition kids, obviously be attaching that to our, shownotes.

 

00;49;54;09 – 00;50;12;28

Dr. Mona

And we did have another episode, earlier on on this podcast called Raising an Intuitive Eater with talking about these principles that we mentioned about, you know, schedules and whatnot, how to do that from an even earlier age, to create an eater that understands, you know, their fullness cues and their hunger cues. And it was such a great episode.

 

00;50;13;04 – 00;50;18;02

Dr. Mona

So definitely listen to that if you haven’t already. Thanks again, Jessica, for being here today.

 

00;50;18;04 – 00;50;19;28

Jessica Gust

Thank you so much for having me.

 

00;50;20;00 – 00;50;22;07

Dr. Mona

Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode.

 

00;50;22;13 – 00;50;23;22

Jessica Gust

I hope you guys enjoyed it.

 

00;50;23;22 – 00;50;38;21

Dr. Mona

As always, please leave a review, share it with a friend, comment on my social media. And if you’re not already following me at PedsDocTalk on Instagram, I love doing this for all of you. Have a great rest of your week. Take care.

 

00;50;38;24 – 00;50;39;17

Dr. Mona

Talk to you soon!