If you have ever watched your child say something painful about their body and had no idea what to say back, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Family in Focus, I walk through what it actually looks like when diet culture gets to your kid — and more importantly, four ways to show up when it does.

Because the instinct to correct, reassure, and fix is coming from love. But it is often the thing that closes the door.

Because showing up is not the same as solving it.

And the difference matters more than you think.

I break down why direct contradiction backfires, why banning diet talk at home can actually remove you from the conversation, and what to do instead. From addressing what you are carrying as a parent first, to getting curious before you correct, to sitting with your child in the discomfort instead of rushing past it.

In this episode:

• Why what your child absorbed is already shaping how they see themselves
• The signals that diet culture has gotten in — and what they actually look like
• Why correcting the message directly usually makes it stick harder
• 4 ways to show up for your child without trying to fix them
• When to trust your gut and reach out for more support

New episodes air every Wednesday.

Join The Exhale, my newsletter for parents who want less stress around food, body image, and weight concerns and more confidence at the dinner table: https://www.wendyschofermd.com/the-exhale

Learn more about working together:
https://www.wendyschofermd.com

To schedule a consult:
https://wendyschofermdscheduling.as.me/consult

Follow along and continue the conversation:
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While I am a doctor, I am not your doctor. This podcast is for education, not medical advice.

If you have ever left your child's well visit feeling like you did something wrong, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Family in Focus, I break down the history of BMI, diet culture, and why weight became the focus of your child's doctor visit.
Because your doctor did not make up that advice. But understanding where it actually comes from changes everything.

Because the message has a history.
And that history matters.

I take us back to the 1830s, when a Belgian mathematician, not a doctor, not a researcher studying children or health, created the formula we now call BMI. He was explicit that it should never be used to assess individual bodies. And yet nearly two centuries later, it is the primary screening tool used at your child's well visit.

I also explore how diet culture became embedded in medicine, why we defaulted to numbers in the first place, and what it means to start countering that culture in your own home.

In this episode:
-The origins of BMI and why it was never designed for your child
-How diet culture entered the doctor's office
-Why weight-focused advice activates shame instead of change
-The narrow history behind who built our health systems and what got left -out
-What it looks like to shift from chasing numbers to building relationships

New episodes air every Wednesday.

Join The Exhale, my newsletter for parents who want less stress around food, body image, and weight concerns and more confidence at the dinner table: https://www.wendyschofermd.com/the-exhale

Learn more about working together:
https://www.wendyschofermd.com

To schedule a consult:
https://wendyschofermdscheduling.as.me/consult

Follow along and continue the conversation:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendyschofermd/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyschofermd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendyschofermd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-schofer-md/

While I am a doctor, I am not your doctor. This podcast is for education, not medical advice.

If you have ever been told to focus on your child’s BMI, weight, or eating habits and felt like something wasn’t adding up, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Family in Focus, I unpack the truth about BMI, pediatric weight guidance, and why the traditional “eat less, move more” approach often fails families.

Because it is not your child who is failing.

It may be the system.

We explore how BMI became a standard tool in healthcare, despite never being designed for individual health, and how diet culture, fitness culture, and medicine have merged into a single message focused on controlling bodies.

This episode also introduces a new way to think about children’s health, one that shifts away from numbers and toward relationships with food, body, and connection.

In this episode:

• Why BMI is a flawed measure of individual health
• How weight-focused messaging impacts kids and families
• The problem with “eat less, move more”
• How diet culture shows up in medical care
• A healthier, more sustainable approach to supporting your child

Watch the full video episode on YouTube.

New episodes every Wednesday.

Join The Exhale, my newsletter for parents who want less stress around food, body image, and weight concerns and more confidence at the dinner table:
https://www.wendyschofermd.com/the-exhale

Learn more about working together:
https://www.wendyschofermd.com

To schedule a consult:
https://wendyschofermdscheduling.as.me/consult

Follow along and continue the conversation:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendyschofermd/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyschofermd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendyschofermd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-schofer-md/

Books & Resources Mentioned:

If you want to go deeper into understanding diet culture, weight stigma, and how these messages impact families, these are powerful places to start:

Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison
A deep dive into how diet culture became embedded in our society, healthcare, and beliefs about health and body size.

Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith
A practical and eye-opening guide for parents navigating body image, food, and weight conversations with their kids.

Starfish by Lisa Fipps
A middle-grade novel that offers a powerful look at how weight stigma affects kids and how they experience messages about their bodies from the world around them.

While I am a doctor, I am not your doctor. This podcast is for education, not medical advice.