September 19, 2023 • 35 mins
Hey mama, ever felt disheartened seeing your child encounter diet culture outside of your safe home environment? Well, it's time to arm them with critical thinking skills to navigate this tricky landscape. We're about to set out on an exploration of diet culture in schools, understanding its layers, and sharing our thoughts on how to lift this shame together.
When was the last time you thought about the Presidential Fitness Test? Many of us might remember it as a harmless school ritual, but could it be a subtle harbinger of diet culture? This episode exposes the damaging impact of diet culture in our education system, specifically through the lens of such health campaigns. We share personal experiences of how such initiatives could potentially fuel eating disorders, body shaming, and undue comparisons, manifesting not just in schools but also doctors' offices, social media, and other forms of media.
We also turn our spotlight on the unseen effects of diet culture on anti-bullying campaigns, curriculum, and statewide testing. The episode also discusses the pressures children might face when they're food policed at school, and how food shaming can lead to anxiety in children. Parents, we'll be sharing some tips and resources to support your children in navigating these issues. Buckle up for an enlightening journey that tackles the diet culture in our children's schools. Tune in and let's start lifting the shame together.
Questions about today's episode or do you have topic requests for future episodes? Please send your feedback via email to hello@crystalkarges.com or connect with Crystal on Instagram.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, mama, you're listening to the Lift the
Shame podcast.
I'm your host, crystal, mama ofFive and your family's
intuitive eating dietitian, hereto help you cut through the
diet culture clutter so you canenjoy freedom with food as a
family.
I'm on a mission to help youend the generational legacy of
diet culture in your home so youcan experience motherhood free
(00:22):
from food guilt and body shame.
Listen in weekly for guidanceon how you can ditch diet
culture, heal your relationshipwith food in your body and
confidently raise intuitiveeaters.
Let's dive in and lift theshame together.
Hey, mama, welcome back to theshow.
I'm so glad that you're hereand appreciate you hanging out
(00:43):
with me as we delve into anothertopic of conversation, focusing
around how we can shift out ofthese generational legacies of
diet culture in our families andin our homes.
And today we are starting a newlittle mini series here on diet
culture in our kids' schools,and this is a really broad topic
, and so today's episode isgoing to look more at a bird's
(01:07):
eye view of the topic, and I'mhoping over the next few weeks
that we can dive deeper intosome different areas and
concerning things that can showup when it comes to how our kids
may encounter diet culture intheir schools, and I just want
to start off by acknowledgingthat this is a very layered and
complex topic and this can bereally hard, especially as a
(01:28):
parent, when you are being superproactive about challenging
diet culture norms and standardsand stigmas and making an
effort to really help supportyour child to build a positive
relationship with food and theirbodies, and you're trying to
make your home that safe spaceonly for your child to encounter
diet culture in its variousforms and, may I say, sneaky and
(01:51):
subtle forms in school.
It can feel reallydisheartening and I just want to
encourage you today.
Like all forms of diet culture,there are many layers and this
is a systemic issue, as you'llsee.
As we kind of talk through someof these things today, you will
see the layers where dietculture is lurking in the school
systems and while it may feeldisheartening to hear some of
(02:14):
this, I also hope that you willfeel encouraged and empowered to
just support your own child andalso to learn how to advocate
for your child in your ownschool system, if you have the
capacity to do so, in whateverseason you might find yourself
in.
I know when we look at thesystem at large, it can feel
like what difference does itmake?
What difference do I make formy child when they are going to
(02:38):
encounter this outside of thewalls of my own home?
And this is where I think itcan be so encouraging to just be
reminded of the importance ofthe work that you're doing and
the way that you're showing upfor your child and the way that
you're holding space for themand supporting them and modeling
.
All of these things play a hugerole in how your child will
(02:58):
navigate these really trickysituations.
And we just want to rememberthat we can't keep our kids in a
bubble.
The goal is not to protect themfrom all the various forms of
diet culture that they mayencounter.
That's just not realistic.
And although we are working todismantle it in our families and
in our homes so that this nolonger becomes part of our
(03:20):
family's legacy, it's just notrealistic to think that our kids
won't still encounter itoutside of our homes and outside
of our families.
While it may no longer defineyour family, your child will
still face it in some forms orothers.
And while it may be nice tokeep our kids in a bubble and in
some ways I wish that we could.
(03:40):
We want to think more broadly interms of how can we support our
kids both in the short term butalso in the long term.
How can we help them be able tocall out diet culture or weight
stigma or fat phobia, and howcan we help them develop those
critical thinking skills thatthey'll need to recognize when
messages are countering whatthey know to be true for
(04:01):
themselves.
And this is where I think wehave an opportunity to come
alongside them and support themthrough their school journey or
that might look like for you andultimately, through the
guidance and through the supportthat we can give them.
This can be instrumental inhelping them become impervious
to the diet culture system thatthey may encounter in school and
(04:22):
beyond.
So this is something that I'mhoping we can talk through
together over the next few weeks, and I have some notes written
down in terms of topics andquestions that I've received
from you.
But if there are specificthings that I'm talking through
and you're like, oh yes, I wantto hear more about that, or
things that you'd like moreresources about, please connect
with me.
You can always reach me athello at crystalcargiscom, or
(04:46):
reply to any of the weeklyemails that are going out.
I would love to just know whatyou're saying on your side of
the world and where you see dietculture showing up in your
kids' schools.
What worries you and where areyou needing more support so that
you can feel confident in howyou're showing up for your own
child?
So I'm hoping we can walkthrough this together.
(05:06):
I'm hoping I can also bring onsome different guests and
experts who can share moreresources to help us as we learn
to navigate just the minefieldthat the school system at large
can be because of how deeprooted diet culture is.
So for today's episode, I justwant to talk through some ways
(05:27):
in which you might encounterdiet culture in your child's
school and then briefly talkthrough ways that you can
support your child or begin tonavigate this with them.
And again, I understand that weare going to be touching this
more broadly today because thereare a lot of nuances here and a
lot more areas that we candefinitely do a deeper dive.
(05:47):
But I just wanted to do anoverview and again, if there's
any topics that I'm touching on,please connect with me.
I would love to hear what'sresonating with you so that I
can bring you some moreresources.
That would be helpful for yourjourney.
But first let's talk about howdiet culture is showing up in
our kids' schools, and I look atthis kind of from a top down
(06:08):
approach.
I think sometimes the way we'reencountering it is very
individualistic.
We're seeing things come up inthe classroom or certain
assignments where you might hearour kids talk about something
that another child told them, ora teacher or aide, someone
no-transcript.
(06:29):
I don't think we necessarilytake the time to step back and
understand where this may becoming from, and I also just
want to acknowledge our teachersand our educators and how
amazing you are and I want tostress that this is not about
blaming or shaming teacherswhatsoever so I hope you can
(06:49):
hear that in this conversationas we just explore some of these
topics.
Our teachers in our educationalsystems are very much
overworked and underpaid andhave so much on their plates,
and many teachers are beinggiven curriculum that's coming
from a state or county level andgives them little wiggle room
in terms of what they can dowith this material.
(07:12):
The other thing is that there'sjust not any education about
eating disorders for ourteachers, and this is also
something that I think isproblematic and that we don't
understand the ripple effects ofcertain assignments or
approaches to nutrition orhealth curriculum, how this may
impact children, especiallychildren who are more
(07:33):
susceptible to eating disorders,and so we cannot blame
individuals here.
This is very much a systemicissue, and this is why I wanted
to just take a brief look at thetop and where this might be
trickling down from when itcomes to classrooms and
curriculums and the generalapproach to nutrition and health
information in our schools.
(07:54):
So, starting on this level, Iwanted to just talk about
campaigns, and a lot of thestems from political campaigns
that trickle down into theeducation system, oftentimes
with good intent.
However, there is also thepotential for a lot of
misinformation, and we can'tnegate the impact of diet
(08:14):
culture in our education systemand how education is approached,
especially in the United States, which is where I live.
So I want to give you anexample about this, starting
with the presidential fitnesstest, which many of you may
remember, especially if you grewup in the United States, and
this was something that actuallystarted in the 1950s, and it
(08:37):
very much did stem from apolitical agenda and a political
campaign which, you can imagine, has a lot of stigma already
attached to it because it hasmore to do with performance and
achievement, especially of theAmerican population, versus what
are healthy habits that we'resupporting our kids and
(08:59):
developing.
And the reason this one inparticular sticks out to me is
definitely for a personal reason, and this is something that I
remember doing in fifth grade,and I know that eating disorders
develop as a result of manydifferent factors that come
together to create the perfectstorm, and I definitely can
recognize the role that thisparticular incident played in my
(09:23):
eating disorder development,and I just remember it being one
of the first times where I wasvery aware of my body compared
to other people and reallyinternalizing this narrative and
belief that my body was wrong.
And that is because thepresidential fitness test that
we were all required to take wasvery much about categories and
(09:45):
very much about achievingcertain measurements and fitness
requirements, and I don'tbelieve that this was part of
the presidential fitness test,but I remember that my school
actually measured our height andweight and calculated our BMI
as part of this physicalexamination, and that was rough
for me as a child who alreadywas feeling uncomfortable about
(10:08):
the changes that were happeningin my body in this
pre-adolescent phase, and italso really caused me to measure
my worth based on performanceand body size, and just the
tests in itself reallyhighlights those aspects that
how we look and how we performare the most important things
about us.
It's such a damaging message andit's also a very prominent form
(10:31):
of education when it comes tohealth in schools today, and
this was something that seededthis deep belief in myself that
my body was wrong because itdidn't measure up.
It felt like my BMI was like atest score or something and like
the categories that they put usin.
I remember all the other kidswere talking about it and
comparing results and it justfelt like there was this
(10:54):
hierarchy already forming aroundwhose body types were desirable
and whose weren't, and therewas just so much shame attached
to it.
I'll never forget it, how theyweighed us in front of all the
other kids, and it really wastraumatic in a lot of ways and
was seared in my memory and wasa trigger for early dieting
measures that I began seekingout.
(11:16):
And this is something that's acommon thread that we see among
children, where it's this earlybelief that there's something
wrong with your body, your bodyis not good or your body is not
measuring up or your body is notlike the other kids' bodies
that you see at school, and soyou look for external resources
or things to help you changethat.
(11:36):
And that is where dieting oftenswoops in.
It's like here's a prescriptiveway that you can follow or way
of eating that you can follow,or exercise regime, and this
will help you get to ex-weight.
And there was just so muchchaos and confusion already at
such an early age for me aroundfood and my body and exercise.
Compulsive exercise did becomea big part of my eating disorder
(11:59):
and I have no doubt that itstemmed from that presidential
fitness test, or at least thatwas a big part of it.
Just understanding that, hey, Idon't know if my body is
measuring up, I don't know if mybody is good enough, I don't
know if my body is fit enough,and what does that mean for me.
So this is a very damaging testand there have been a lot of
changes and things over theyears and I might have to do a
(12:21):
deep dive episode into all thedifferent nuances and origins of
this test.
But the history of it is veryinteresting and it is
interesting to see the politicalcampaign that influenced this
test and the implementation ofit in our schools on a national
level, and just how thisaffected children.
I mean, statistics show us that40% of elementary school age
(12:44):
girls have already tried to dietas a form of losing weight, and
this is something that affectsour sons and our daughters and
it shows us the concerns thatcan surface at such a young age
around their bodies, and it'svery interesting this is
something again taking a stepback, to look at the bird's eye
view of diet culture in schoolsand how this is showing up for
(13:07):
our kids.
Another thing to just reiterateis that diet culture is not
just showing up in our kids'schools, and that's not the only
way in which they'll encounterdiet culture.
It's also showing up indoctors' offices and friends'
homes and family members and indifferent media forms social
media, I mean.
There's so many ways that dietculture is out there and it's
(13:28):
also being perpetuated in ourschool systems, and what I want
us to see is the different waysthat our kids encounter diet
culture and the narrative thatthis is seeding in their brain,
and these are the common themespromoted by diet culture agenda,
and these are things to beaware of as you're filtering
through some of this materialfor yourself, because, again, it
(13:50):
can be very sneaky and verysubtle and we want to be
perceptive and aware.
What is the underlying messagethat is being communicated here?
And the common themes, again,that I hear and recognize, not
just for myself, but inexperience and work experience
and seeing this with otherfamilies this common theme of
your body is wrong, your bodycannot be trusted and you need
(14:14):
to try to change your body andany type of way that that
message is packaged and it oftenis packaged in a way that is
very subtle or even veryenticing but when our kids are
getting these messages in subtleways, this is what can stay in
them and can be internalized andcan cause them to look for
(14:35):
outside ways of navigating theworld, like dieting and we know
that dieting is the mostimportant predictor of new
eating disorders, especially inkids and adolescents.
So we want to be just moreaware of what are the underlying
messages that are children arepotentially encountering in
these campaigns at school, orwhether it's health curriculum
(14:55):
or whatever it is an assignmentthat they're getting.
Is this somehow tying back toone of these damaging messages
that is causing them to believethat their body is somehow wrong
or that they can't trust theirbody or that they need to do
something to try to change theirbody as a result of feeling
like their body is wrong.
So a lot again to unpack here,and I'm starting to go on a
(15:17):
little bit of a tangent, but Ijust wanted to again start at
this top level, where there arecampaigns, often influenced by
many national committees, manytype of political campaigns that
are influencing how we'reapproaching education and health
in the school systems.
Another one that you may be morefamiliar with is this obesity
(15:37):
prevention campaign that haswidely been circulated on a
national level here in theUnited States too, and this has
been a damaging one as well.
While there may have been somegood intention behind it, it's
incredibly fatphobic, itstigmatizes children in larger
bodies, it stigmatizes weight,and it focuses more on weight
(16:01):
versus supporting our childrenof all body sizes and learning
to develop healthier habits thatcan be engaged in for a
lifetime, like making sureyou're getting enough sleep,
making sure you're drinkingenough water, like weight
neutral strategies or weightneutral ways for promoting
health, and this is somethingthat is hugely missing from this
(16:22):
campaign that has been runningin the recent past decade.
The other thing to note isbecause it is weight based and
approaching more a child'sweight than anything else.
It's not evidence based, and weunderstand that the BMI system
is not an evidence based toolfor measuring a child's health
or wellness, and so we'reactually seeing evidence that
(16:46):
many of the strategies that wereutilized in this prevention
program actually have beencausing more harm than good, and
this is where I just reallystruggle as a professional on
this side of things is we areseeing such a drastic rise in
eating disorders, andparticularly new eating
disorders in children,especially post pandemic.
(17:09):
We're seeing worsening in ourchildren's mental health.
We are seeing more incidencesof hospitalization for eating
disorders and inquiries abouttreatment centers for eating
disorders in children, and soit's clear that these strategies
have not worked.
In fact, it's causing more harmthan good, and I'm not saying
that that's the only issue.
(17:30):
There are so many other issuesthat have happened, but we have
to step back and look at the waythat we're approaching health
in our schools and understandthat this is not helping our
kids become healthier, and wewant it to be about their
overall health, not just abouttheir weight, and this is
something that is really missingfrom many of these nationwide
(17:51):
campaigns that are tricklingdown into the states and
counties and into our individualschools.
Another thing, too, is thatthere have been anti-bullying
measures on a nationwide levelthat are being implemented in
schools, which I hugely applaud.
The efforts that are happeninghere, especially on social media
use.
Rising among our children, justa lot of bullying and the
(18:14):
detrimental effects of that, andthere's a lot to look for and a
lot that schools are doing tohelp counter that.
But something that's missingfrom many anti-bullying
campaigns is weight stigma andweight bullying.
Oftentimes kids are beingbullied because of their body
size, and this is something thatI think we're also missing on a
nationwide level when it comesto campaigns and policies that
(18:36):
are being integrated into ourschool systems.
So this now trickles down intothe state levels and again into
the counties, and there arecertain metrics that schools
have to follow or reach orcurriculums that schools are
mandated to follow in order toget funding, and this is
something that I learnedrecently and was interested to
(18:57):
find out more about.
But a lot of school curriculumis actually written at a state
or county level, so oftentimesteachers are being handed
curriculum that maybe there'snot a lot of flexibility with.
It's given to them to teach andto implement in the schools and
sometimes there's not a lot ofwiggle room beyond what you're
(19:19):
provided.
And this is where I see, inboth content that is integrated
in schools and curriculum thatis being taught, where we're
seeing diet culture sneak in invery subtle ways.
I have certainly seen this withmy own kiddos I'm sure you have
seen this in different wayswhere kids are reading books and
I'm reading them with them andrecognize that there's odd
(19:40):
things in there that are veryshaming and it's very subtle
towards kids, bodies or foodchoices.
This is something that I'veseen pop up in books with my
younger kids in particular, andthese are books that you would
think are totally benign andinnocent, and this is why I say
diet culture is so sneaky in thedifferent ways that it shows up
.
But I was reading a book with myson recently the Frog and Toad
(20:04):
series and there was a wholesection about frog and toad
baking cookies but thenbasically trying to get rid of
them because they didn't haveany willpower to stop eating
them and I was like what?
Like I didn't even know, likeit was challenging for me to
even understand how to explainthis to my son, who is very
intuitive with his own body andeats and enjoys cookies and
(20:27):
doesn't feel any shame or stigmaaround them.
And here is the story about twocharacters who do feel shame
around eating cookies and feellike they can't stop eating them
and are trying to get rid ofthem because they're going to
eat too many, and that wasreally disturbing.
And this is just a small sampleof what we are seeing in
content and curriculum that'sbeing integrated in our schools.
(20:49):
I have also seen this in mydaughter's statewide testing
that is done in their schools,and this was during the pandemic
and so she was doing someonline testing and they actually
had us, as parents, facilitatethe test at home.
So she's doing this test andI'm helping and just kind of
looking over her shoulder andsupporting her and helping her
(21:10):
read through some of the longtexts and, sure enough, some of
the math problems, word problemswe're talking about.
Okay, if you ate this manycalories during the day, how
much would you have to jump rope?
If you know that jump ropebeing burns this amount of
calories?
How long would you have to jumprope in order to burn off all
(21:31):
the calories for what you'veeaten?
And, like, my jaw justliterally felt like it dropped
to the floor, like what?
What are we talking about thiswhen we're teaching math in math
curriculum?
It was so infuriating to me andalso very challenging to try to
focus on the task at hand whenit's so laced with diet culture.
(21:54):
It's like we're not evenfocusing on what we're trying to
help our kids learn here whenthey're being bombarded with all
these different messages.
And again, going back to what Iwas saying about the narrative,
what is the narrative that ourkids are learning and
internalizing from these subtlemessages and how it's showing up
and that math problem talkingabout eating something and now
(22:15):
having to burn it off is seedingthis idea that you can't trust
your body.
And this is something that mydaughter really at the time
didn't quite grasp or understandand it wasn't affecting her in
the way that I was imagining itto, and so we didn't get into
any type of lengthy discussionat that point.
She was just like I just wantto finish this test and get it
(22:37):
done, but I was reallystruggling with how blatant diet
culture seemed to show up on astatewide math test.
And again, this is not ourteachers doing Like our teachers
are doing so much and such anamazing job trying to help our
kiddos to the best of theirabilities.
These are tests that werewritten at the state level and
(23:00):
so it does make it morechallenging to try to figure out
.
How can I advocate for bettercurriculum or curriculum that's
not going to see these beliefsthat eating cookies is wrong or
that you can't trust or listento your body, or you should feel
shame for how you're eating orwhat you're eating, or feel like
you have to work off whateveryou just ate.
It's really difficult whenwe're looking at the top down,
(23:23):
the the state influences on thecurriculum that our teachers are
using and utilizing in theclassrooms.
However, we can be aware of itand I am going to get to some
pointers and things that we canthink about when it comes to the
ways that we encounter this andnavigate this, but definitely
in curriculum it's there in bothdirect and indirect ways.
(23:43):
There are also assignments thatkids might get that really
perpetuate diet culture or startseeding these beliefs about
there being a hierarchy aroundfood, like good foods versus bad
foods, and these are subtlethings that are showing up in
health curricula more with theintention of just supporting our
kids and being healthier, wherewe're telling them you should
(24:06):
eat more of this or less of that, and those things we know are
not actually helping our kidseat more variety or learn how to
self-regulate or learn how totrust their bodies.
Yet they're showing up in verysneaky ways and at very young
ages, and I'm hearing storiesfrom parents all over the
country, particularly here inthe US, who are talking about
(24:26):
ways that this is showing up fortheir kids, and I understand as
a parent.
It's very heartbreaking, it canbe very disheartening and it can
definitely bring out that mamabear.
I know for me, and especiallyif you're a parent who is in
recovery from an eating disorderor who has had a difficult
relationship with food andyou're like, not on my watch, I
do not want my kids to encounterthe same damaging things that I
(24:49):
struggled with.
You might find that you're morehypersensitive to some of these
things that may come up and youmight find yourself reacting
and you might find anger risingup in your body and oftentimes
that's connected to our owntrauma around food and our
bodies, especially if weencountered it in different ways
in school growing up.
(25:09):
And this is where I want us tobe able to channel that anger
and use it for good, and I knowit can be hard to it can be
really frustrating, and it takeseverything in me sometimes to
not just march in and say howcan we figure this out, how can
we change this?
And I do think there's waysthat we can collaborate and work
with our teaching professionalsto better support our kids
(25:33):
because, again, a lot of this iscoming from nationwide levels,
from curriculum writers who arevery entrenched in diet culture,
and there are so much weightstigma and fat phobia at
nationwide levels that's justtrickling down into our
educational systems, and so wecan start to chip away at it in
our little corners of the world,in our school districts, and
(25:57):
start advocating for differentways for approaching health and
nutrition and just food andbodies in our schools.
So just another couple examplesand then we will talk more
about things that we can do asparents.
But food tracking assignmentsthis is a big one that I'm
seeing more on the high schoollevel and definitely in college
(26:17):
too, but where kids are beingtold to track what they eat,
many of them are beingencouraged to utilize some kind
of tracking device, like myFitness Pal or their Apple Watch
, or utilize programs where theyput in everything that they eat
, which, by the way, are notaccurate, and these are all
things that again can see thebelief that how they're eating
(26:39):
or their bodies way of eating ortheir preferences are wrong and
can't be trusted.
Because tracking their foodintake is usually just one part
of the assignment.
I know that there's usually asecond part that entails now,
how can you decrease yourcalories so that they're more in
your range level, which, again,those metrics that try to
(27:00):
estimate what somebody'scalories need are not really
accurate.
And our bodies are not stagnant.
Our needs are constantlychanging, but this is really
hard to explain and wedefinitely can't capture this in
one nutrition assignment orfood diary assignment, and so
this is creating a lot ofconfusion for kids, and any type
(27:21):
of quantifiable approach tofood can be such a trigger for
disordered eating.
Because now we're talking aboutmeasuring food and tracking and
counting calories, and I knowfrom so many moms that I've
worked with that oftentimes thisaspect of their eating disorder
or their struggle with food intheir body stemmed from one of
these assignments where theylearned essentially how to track
(27:43):
calories.
And now it's like I can't stopmentally thinking about how much
I'm eating or what I'm eating,and all of these things take us
away from our bodies innatewisdom of how and what to eat,
away from our innate intuitiveeating abilities, which makes
food so much more chaotic.
And so we want to be aware ofany of those type of assignments
(28:05):
that our kids might be getting.
But again, this can be subtle.
This might be for younger kids,where they're taught to sort
foods into different categories,like what are better for you
foods and what are sometimesfoods, what are junk food?
Any time we're attaching alabel to food or categorizing it
, we're creating a hierarchy.
That's a subtle way ofcommunicating to our kids that
(28:26):
there are good versus bad foods.
And again, we understand fromresearch that any time that food
is categorized, it makes itmore complicated for our kids,
and our kids are actually lesslikely to eat the foods that we
tell them are better for them orhealthier for them.
They're actually more likely tobecome adverse to eating those
foods and the foods that wedemonize, the foods that we say
(28:47):
are off limits or that youshould be eating less of, these
things actually will become moreglorified in their mind and
they're more likely to want toseek out those foods.
And that can create so muchconfusion, starting from young
ages, and this is where we wantto look at the nutrition and
health curriculum that our kidsmight be exposed to and
(29:08):
recognize where diet culture isshowing up.
Is it communicating thismessage that their body is wrong
, that their body can't betrusted?
Is it attaching any shame tofood or how they're eating or
their body's sizes?
These are all things that wewant to be aware of.
Lastly, I just wanted to touchon just how diet culture might
(29:28):
show up in your child'sindividual classroom.
So we talked about curriculum,we talked about campaigns that
are coming from a nationwidelevel, and there's also things
that your child may encounter intheir classroom, at school,
amongst friends, while eating,at the lunch table or in the
cafeteria, and this one can beharder because, again, this is
(29:48):
things that may be moredifficult to advocate or change
because it's happening aroundthem, but this can include
things like having their lunchbox being policed, and this is
something that has come up a lot.
I've heard it from many parentspeople that are very close to
me talk to me about how theirkids are being told at school
(30:10):
what order to eat their food in,or parents being told to please
pack healthier snacks for theirkids because the things that
they're sending are not healthyenough.
And this can be reallychallenging to navigate as a
parent, and I will say,especially if you have a child
who is an anxious eater, if youhave a child who's more
selective with food, if you havea neurodivergent child or you
(30:32):
have a child with foodsensitivities, this can be
really challenging becauseyou're likely sending things to
school that you know your childwill eat.
I know for me this is again amore personal story, but last
year we were having some issueswith my son at school and he is
definitely neurodivergent andlearns differently, and the
classroom setting is just alittle more challenging for him
(30:53):
in terms of sitting for certainlengths of time.
He just needs more breaks andneeds to move his body a lot
more, and there was a discussionwith some of his teachers about
how food might be affecting hisbehavior.
And the other challenging aspectis that he is more selective
with food.
He has a lot of sensorysensitivities.
He's sensitive to certaintextures and just flavors and he
(31:16):
needs simpler foods in order toeat.
He's also more of an anxiouseater.
He's more likely to foregoeating altogether to go play,
and I understand these thingsabout him and how this affects
his mood and how this can affecthim if he's not eating anything
at all or if he's kind of goingon a hunger strike because
there's nothing familiar in hislunch and so he gets a lot of
(31:40):
processed foods in his lunch,like anyone might open up his
lunchbox and say, yikes, likethere's not enough fruits or
vegetables or things that aregoing to help him focus in
school.
But this is where we have tounderstand big picture here.
Like I would rather my son goto school and eat something that
he's comfortable with than noteat anything at all because he
(32:02):
doesn't have anything familiaror it's not meeting the criteria
of what the school is saying ishealthy for him.
And I know that a lot ofteachers are also under pressure
too and that it's hard when youhave a classroom full of kids
and you don't have enoughsupport or you don't have aids
to support you with kids thathave different learning needs,
and so this can be a challengingarea.
(32:22):
However, when it comes topolicing our kids school lunches
, this can create a lot ofanxiety and shame for kids, and
this is something that I'veheard from a lot of parents,
where kids are coming home withlunchbox full, or they may not
eat their cookie or their ricecrispy treat because there was
some shame attached to it, orthey're getting notes from their
teachers requesting to senddifferent things, and this can
(32:45):
be really challenging,especially without knowing a
family's culture or a family'slearning needs, or whether or
not a family is dealing withfood insecurity, or whether a
family is dealing with mental orphysical health conditions that
are making it harder to groceryshop or pack lunches, and so
they're reaching for what iseasiest and most convenient.
So there's a lot that can showup here and again.
(33:08):
This is not faulting anybody,but just maybe lack of awareness
and education around howchildren may be impacted when
their lunchboxes are beingpoliced or there's rules around
what they have to eat, or likeyou have to eat your protein or
your vegetable first and thenyou can have your dessert.
Things like that can reallymess with a kid's brain.
(33:28):
They might also hear commentsfrom peers, or peers saying, oh,
I can't eat that, that has toomuch sugar in it, or I'm not
allowed to eat that, or that'sgross, why would you eat that?
I mean just a generalcommentary around.
Children can be hard for a childto navigate, and it can also
influence how they feel aboutfood or how they're eating or
(33:48):
what they're eating in school.
So I know I've just talkedthrough some examples.
I know there are countless moreand I would love to hear from
you just where you see dietculture showing up in your
child's schools, how this isresonating with you, or where
you're concerned or findingyourself concerned when you're
noticing diet culture showing upin your child's school setting.
(34:09):
I know it can be tough and, ineffort to break up these
episodes a little bit and notmake them too long, I think what
I'm going to do is do part twoon this next week.
So we will pick up on what youcan do when you are aware of
diet culture in different waysshowing up in your child's
school setting, how to navigateit and what you might be able to
(34:32):
do about it, because I know,again, this is a big topic and I
want to be able to give yousome resources and help you
through this.
But I hope this is just anintroduction or overview into
the ways that diet culture isshowing up in schools, but I'm
not going to leave you hanging,I promise.
So I hope you'll come back nextweek.
We will pick up and talk aboutthings that you can do, ways
(34:52):
that you can support your childas you're encountering diet
culture in these sneaky andsubtle ways.
So I can't wait to connect withyou next week and continue the
conversation and again, if youhave any questions or things
that I can support you with,please be sure to connect with
me.
I would love to hear from you.
So we will pick up next week.
Can't wait to talk then.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of the Lift the
(35:13):
Shame podcast.
For more tips and guidance onyour motherhood journey, come
connect with me on Instagram atCrystalCarGaze.
Until next week, mama, I'll becheering you on.
Bye for now.
Hey there, mama, you're listening to the Lift the
Shame podcast.
I'm your host, crystal, mama ofFive and your family's
intuitive eating dietitian, hereto help you cut through the
diet culture clutter so you canenjoy freedom with food as a
family.
I'm on a mission to help youend the generational legacy of
diet culture in your home so youcan experience motherhood free
(00:22):
from food guilt and body shame.
Listen in weekly for guidanceon how you can ditch diet
culture, heal your relationshipwith food in your body and
confidently raise intuitiveeaters.
Let's dive in and lift theshame together.
Hey, mama, welcome back to theshow.
I'm so glad that you're hereand appreciate you hanging out
(00:43):
with me as we delve into anothertopic of conversation, focusing
around how we can shift out ofthese generational legacies of
diet culture in our families andin our homes.
And today we are starting a newlittle mini series here on diet
culture in our kids' schools,and this is a really broad topic
, and so today's episode isgoing to look more at a bird's
(01:07):
eye view of the topic, and I'mhoping over the next few weeks
that we can dive deeper intosome different areas and
concerning things that can showup when it comes to how our kids
may encounter diet culture intheir schools, and I just want
to start off by acknowledgingthat this is a very layered and
complex topic and this can bereally hard, especially as a
(01:28):
parent, when you are being superproactive about challenging
diet culture norms and standardsand stigmas and making an
effort to really help supportyour child to build a positive
relationship with food and theirbodies, and you're trying to
make your home that safe spaceonly for your child to encounter
diet culture in its variousforms and, may I say, sneaky and
(01:51):
subtle forms in school.
It can feel reallydisheartening and I just want to
encourage you today.
Like all forms of diet culture,there are many layers and this
is a systemic issue, as you'llsee.
As we kind of talk through someof these things today, you will
see the layers where dietculture is lurking in the school
systems and while it may feeldisheartening to hear some of
(02:14):
this, I also hope that you willfeel encouraged and empowered to
just support your own child andalso to learn how to advocate
for your child in your ownschool system, if you have the
capacity to do so, in whateverseason you might find yourself
in.
I know when we look at thesystem at large, it can feel
like what difference does itmake?
What difference do I make formy child when they are going to
(02:38):
encounter this outside of thewalls of my own home?
And this is where I think itcan be so encouraging to just be
reminded of the importance ofthe work that you're doing and
the way that you're showing upfor your child and the way that
you're holding space for themand supporting them and modeling
.
All of these things play a hugerole in how your child will
(02:58):
navigate these really trickysituations.
And we just want to rememberthat we can't keep our kids in a
bubble.
The goal is not to protect themfrom all the various forms of
diet culture that they mayencounter.
That's just not realistic.
And although we are working todismantle it in our families and
in our homes so that this nolonger becomes part of our
(03:20):
family's legacy, it's just notrealistic to think that our kids
won't still encounter itoutside of our homes and outside
of our families.
While it may no longer defineyour family, your child will
still face it in some forms orothers.
And while it may be nice tokeep our kids in a bubble and in
some ways I wish that we could.
(03:40):
We want to think more broadly interms of how can we support our
kids both in the short term butalso in the long term.
How can we help them be able tocall out diet culture or weight
stigma or fat phobia, and howcan we help them develop those
critical thinking skills thatthey'll need to recognize when
messages are countering whatthey know to be true for
(04:01):
themselves.
And this is where I think wehave an opportunity to come
alongside them and support themthrough their school journey or
that might look like for you andultimately, through the
guidance and through the supportthat we can give them.
This can be instrumental inhelping them become impervious
to the diet culture system thatthey may encounter in school and
(04:22):
beyond.
So this is something that I'mhoping we can talk through
together over the next few weeks, and I have some notes written
down in terms of topics andquestions that I've received
from you.
But if there are specificthings that I'm talking through
and you're like, oh yes, I wantto hear more about that, or
things that you'd like moreresources about, please connect
with me.
You can always reach me athello at crystalcargiscom, or
(04:46):
reply to any of the weeklyemails that are going out.
I would love to just know whatyou're saying on your side of
the world and where you see dietculture showing up in your
kids' schools.
What worries you and where areyou needing more support so that
you can feel confident in howyou're showing up for your own
child?
So I'm hoping we can walkthrough this together.
(05:06):
I'm hoping I can also bring onsome different guests and
experts who can share moreresources to help us as we learn
to navigate just the minefieldthat the school system at large
can be because of how deeprooted diet culture is.
So for today's episode, I justwant to talk through some ways
(05:27):
in which you might encounterdiet culture in your child's
school and then briefly talkthrough ways that you can
support your child or begin tonavigate this with them.
And again, I understand that weare going to be touching this
more broadly today because thereare a lot of nuances here and a
lot more areas that we candefinitely do a deeper dive.
(05:47):
But I just wanted to do anoverview and again, if there's
any topics that I'm touching on,please connect with me.
I would love to hear what'sresonating with you so that I
can bring you some moreresources.
That would be helpful for yourjourney.
But first let's talk about howdiet culture is showing up in
our kids' schools, and I look atthis kind of from a top down
(06:08):
approach.
I think sometimes the way we'reencountering it is very
individualistic.
We're seeing things come up inthe classroom or certain
assignments where you might hearour kids talk about something
that another child told them, ora teacher or aide, someone
no-transcript.
(06:29):
I don't think we necessarilytake the time to step back and
understand where this may becoming from, and I also just
want to acknowledge our teachersand our educators and how
amazing you are and I want tostress that this is not about
blaming or shaming teacherswhatsoever so I hope you can
(06:49):
hear that in this conversationas we just explore some of these
topics.
Our teachers in our educationalsystems are very much
overworked and underpaid andhave so much on their plates,
and many teachers are beinggiven curriculum that's coming
from a state or county level andgives them little wiggle room
in terms of what they can dowith this material.
(07:12):
The other thing is that there'sjust not any education about
eating disorders for ourteachers, and this is also
something that I think isproblematic and that we don't
understand the ripple effects ofcertain assignments or
approaches to nutrition orhealth curriculum, how this may
impact children, especiallychildren who are more
(07:33):
susceptible to eating disorders,and so we cannot blame
individuals here.
This is very much a systemicissue, and this is why I wanted
to just take a brief look at thetop and where this might be
trickling down from when itcomes to classrooms and
curriculums and the generalapproach to nutrition and health
information in our schools.
(07:54):
So, starting on this level, Iwanted to just talk about
campaigns, and a lot of thestems from political campaigns
that trickle down into theeducation system, oftentimes
with good intent.
However, there is also thepotential for a lot of
misinformation, and we can'tnegate the impact of diet
(08:14):
culture in our education systemand how education is approached,
especially in the United States, which is where I live.
So I want to give you anexample about this, starting
with the presidential fitnesstest, which many of you may
remember, especially if you grewup in the United States, and
this was something that actuallystarted in the 1950s, and it
(08:37):
very much did stem from apolitical agenda and a political
campaign which, you can imagine, has a lot of stigma already
attached to it because it hasmore to do with performance and
achievement, especially of theAmerican population, versus what
are healthy habits that we'resupporting our kids and
(08:59):
developing.
And the reason this one inparticular sticks out to me is
definitely for a personal reason, and this is something that I
remember doing in fifth grade,and I know that eating disorders
develop as a result of manydifferent factors that come
together to create the perfectstorm, and I definitely can
recognize the role that thisparticular incident played in my
(09:23):
eating disorder development,and I just remember it being one
of the first times where I wasvery aware of my body compared
to other people and reallyinternalizing this narrative and
belief that my body was wrong.
And that is because thepresidential fitness test that
we were all required to take wasvery much about categories and
(09:45):
very much about achievingcertain measurements and fitness
requirements, and I don'tbelieve that this was part of
the presidential fitness test,but I remember that my school
actually measured our height andweight and calculated our BMI
as part of this physicalexamination, and that was rough
for me as a child who alreadywas feeling uncomfortable about
(10:08):
the changes that were happeningin my body in this
pre-adolescent phase, and italso really caused me to measure
my worth based on performanceand body size, and just the
tests in itself reallyhighlights those aspects that
how we look and how we performare the most important things
about us.
It's such a damaging message andit's also a very prominent form
(10:31):
of education when it comes tohealth in schools today, and
this was something that seededthis deep belief in myself that
my body was wrong because itdidn't measure up.
It felt like my BMI was like atest score or something and like
the categories that they put usin.
I remember all the other kidswere talking about it and
comparing results and it justfelt like there was this
(10:54):
hierarchy already forming aroundwhose body types were desirable
and whose weren't, and therewas just so much shame attached
to it.
I'll never forget it, how theyweighed us in front of all the
other kids, and it really wastraumatic in a lot of ways and
was seared in my memory and wasa trigger for early dieting
measures that I began seekingout.
(11:16):
And this is something that's acommon thread that we see among
children, where it's this earlybelief that there's something
wrong with your body, your bodyis not good or your body is not
measuring up or your body is notlike the other kids' bodies
that you see at school, and soyou look for external resources
or things to help you changethat.
(11:36):
And that is where dieting oftenswoops in.
It's like here's a prescriptiveway that you can follow or way
of eating that you can follow,or exercise regime, and this
will help you get to ex-weight.
And there was just so muchchaos and confusion already at
such an early age for me aroundfood and my body and exercise.
Compulsive exercise did becomea big part of my eating disorder
(11:59):
and I have no doubt that itstemmed from that presidential
fitness test, or at least thatwas a big part of it.
Just understanding that, hey, Idon't know if my body is
measuring up, I don't know if mybody is good enough, I don't
know if my body is fit enough,and what does that mean for me.
So this is a very damaging testand there have been a lot of
changes and things over theyears and I might have to do a
(12:21):
deep dive episode into all thedifferent nuances and origins of
this test.
But the history of it is veryinteresting and it is
interesting to see the politicalcampaign that influenced this
test and the implementation ofit in our schools on a national
level, and just how thisaffected children.
I mean, statistics show us that40% of elementary school age
(12:44):
girls have already tried to dietas a form of losing weight, and
this is something that affectsour sons and our daughters and
it shows us the concerns thatcan surface at such a young age
around their bodies, and it'svery interesting this is
something again taking a stepback, to look at the bird's eye
view of diet culture in schoolsand how this is showing up for
(13:07):
our kids.
Another thing to just reiterateis that diet culture is not
just showing up in our kids'schools, and that's not the only
way in which they'll encounterdiet culture.
It's also showing up indoctors' offices and friends'
homes and family members and indifferent media forms social
media, I mean.
There's so many ways that dietculture is out there and it's
(13:28):
also being perpetuated in ourschool systems, and what I want
us to see is the different waysthat our kids encounter diet
culture and the narrative thatthis is seeding in their brain,
and these are the common themespromoted by diet culture agenda,
and these are things to beaware of as you're filtering
through some of this materialfor yourself, because, again, it
(13:50):
can be very sneaky and verysubtle and we want to be
perceptive and aware.
What is the underlying messagethat is being communicated here?
And the common themes, again,that I hear and recognize, not
just for myself, but inexperience and work experience
and seeing this with otherfamilies this common theme of
your body is wrong, your bodycannot be trusted and you need
(14:14):
to try to change your body andany type of way that that
message is packaged and it oftenis packaged in a way that is
very subtle or even veryenticing but when our kids are
getting these messages in subtleways, this is what can stay in
them and can be internalized andcan cause them to look for
(14:35):
outside ways of navigating theworld, like dieting and we know
that dieting is the mostimportant predictor of new
eating disorders, especially inkids and adolescents.
So we want to be just moreaware of what are the underlying
messages that are children arepotentially encountering in
these campaigns at school, orwhether it's health curriculum
(14:55):
or whatever it is an assignmentthat they're getting.
Is this somehow tying back toone of these damaging messages
that is causing them to believethat their body is somehow wrong
or that they can't trust theirbody or that they need to do
something to try to change theirbody as a result of feeling
like their body is wrong.
So a lot again to unpack here,and I'm starting to go on a
(15:17):
little bit of a tangent, but Ijust wanted to again start at
this top level, where there arecampaigns, often influenced by
many national committees, manytype of political campaigns that
are influencing how we'reapproaching education and health
in the school systems.
Another one that you may be morefamiliar with is this obesity
(15:37):
prevention campaign that haswidely been circulated on a
national level here in theUnited States too, and this has
been a damaging one as well.
While there may have been somegood intention behind it, it's
incredibly fatphobic, itstigmatizes children in larger
bodies, it stigmatizes weight,and it focuses more on weight
(16:01):
versus supporting our childrenof all body sizes and learning
to develop healthier habits thatcan be engaged in for a
lifetime, like making sureyou're getting enough sleep,
making sure you're drinkingenough water, like weight
neutral strategies or weightneutral ways for promoting
health, and this is somethingthat is hugely missing from this
(16:22):
campaign that has been runningin the recent past decade.
The other thing to note isbecause it is weight based and
approaching more a child'sweight than anything else.
It's not evidence based, and weunderstand that the BMI system
is not an evidence based toolfor measuring a child's health
or wellness, and so we'reactually seeing evidence that
(16:46):
many of the strategies that wereutilized in this prevention
program actually have beencausing more harm than good, and
this is where I just reallystruggle as a professional on
this side of things is we areseeing such a drastic rise in
eating disorders, andparticularly new eating
disorders in children,especially post pandemic.
(17:09):
We're seeing worsening in ourchildren's mental health.
We are seeing more incidencesof hospitalization for eating
disorders and inquiries abouttreatment centers for eating
disorders in children, and soit's clear that these strategies
have not worked.
In fact, it's causing more harmthan good, and I'm not saying
that that's the only issue.
(17:30):
There are so many other issuesthat have happened, but we have
to step back and look at the waythat we're approaching health
in our schools and understandthat this is not helping our
kids become healthier, and wewant it to be about their
overall health, not just abouttheir weight, and this is
something that is really missingfrom many of these nationwide
(17:51):
campaigns that are tricklingdown into the states and
counties and into our individualschools.
Another thing, too, is thatthere have been anti-bullying
measures on a nationwide levelthat are being implemented in
schools, which I hugely applaud.
The efforts that are happeninghere, especially on social media
use.
Rising among our children, justa lot of bullying and the
(18:14):
detrimental effects of that, andthere's a lot to look for and a
lot that schools are doing tohelp counter that.
But something that's missingfrom many anti-bullying
campaigns is weight stigma andweight bullying.
Oftentimes kids are beingbullied because of their body
size, and this is something thatI think we're also missing on a
nationwide level when it comesto campaigns and policies that
(18:36):
are being integrated into ourschool systems.
So this now trickles down intothe state levels and again into
the counties, and there arecertain metrics that schools
have to follow or reach orcurriculums that schools are
mandated to follow in order toget funding, and this is
something that I learnedrecently and was interested to
(18:57):
find out more about.
But a lot of school curriculumis actually written at a state
or county level, so oftentimesteachers are being handed
curriculum that maybe there'snot a lot of flexibility with.
It's given to them to teach andto implement in the schools and
sometimes there's not a lot ofwiggle room beyond what you're
(19:19):
provided.
And this is where I see, inboth content that is integrated
in schools and curriculum thatis being taught, where we're
seeing diet culture sneak in invery subtle ways.
I have certainly seen this withmy own kiddos I'm sure you have
seen this in different wayswhere kids are reading books and
I'm reading them with them andrecognize that there's odd
(19:40):
things in there that are veryshaming and it's very subtle
towards kids, bodies or foodchoices.
This is something that I'veseen pop up in books with my
younger kids in particular, andthese are books that you would
think are totally benign andinnocent, and this is why I say
diet culture is so sneaky in thedifferent ways that it shows up
.
But I was reading a book with myson recently the Frog and Toad
(20:04):
series and there was a wholesection about frog and toad
baking cookies but thenbasically trying to get rid of
them because they didn't haveany willpower to stop eating
them and I was like what?
Like I didn't even know, likeit was challenging for me to
even understand how to explainthis to my son, who is very
intuitive with his own body andeats and enjoys cookies and
(20:27):
doesn't feel any shame or stigmaaround them.
And here is the story about twocharacters who do feel shame
around eating cookies and feellike they can't stop eating them
and are trying to get rid ofthem because they're going to
eat too many, and that wasreally disturbing.
And this is just a small sampleof what we are seeing in
content and curriculum that'sbeing integrated in our schools.
(20:49):
I have also seen this in mydaughter's statewide testing
that is done in their schools,and this was during the pandemic
and so she was doing someonline testing and they actually
had us, as parents, facilitatethe test at home.
So she's doing this test andI'm helping and just kind of
looking over her shoulder andsupporting her and helping her
(21:10):
read through some of the longtexts and, sure enough, some of
the math problems, word problemswe're talking about.
Okay, if you ate this manycalories during the day, how
much would you have to jump rope?
If you know that jump ropebeing burns this amount of
calories?
How long would you have to jumprope in order to burn off all
(21:31):
the calories for what you'veeaten?
And, like, my jaw justliterally felt like it dropped
to the floor, like what?
What are we talking about thiswhen we're teaching math in math
curriculum?
It was so infuriating to me andalso very challenging to try to
focus on the task at hand whenit's so laced with diet culture.
(21:54):
It's like we're not evenfocusing on what we're trying to
help our kids learn here whenthey're being bombarded with all
these different messages.
And again, going back to what Iwas saying about the narrative,
what is the narrative that ourkids are learning and
internalizing from these subtlemessages and how it's showing up
and that math problem talkingabout eating something and now
(22:15):
having to burn it off is seedingthis idea that you can't trust
your body.
And this is something that mydaughter really at the time
didn't quite grasp or understandand it wasn't affecting her in
the way that I was imagining itto, and so we didn't get into
any type of lengthy discussionat that point.
She was just like I just wantto finish this test and get it
(22:37):
done, but I was reallystruggling with how blatant diet
culture seemed to show up on astatewide math test.
And again, this is not ourteachers doing Like our teachers
are doing so much and such anamazing job trying to help our
kiddos to the best of theirabilities.
These are tests that werewritten at the state level and
(23:00):
so it does make it morechallenging to try to figure out
.
How can I advocate for bettercurriculum or curriculum that's
not going to see these beliefsthat eating cookies is wrong or
that you can't trust or listento your body, or you should feel
shame for how you're eating orwhat you're eating, or feel like
you have to work off whateveryou just ate.
It's really difficult whenwe're looking at the top down,
(23:23):
the the state influences on thecurriculum that our teachers are
using and utilizing in theclassrooms.
However, we can be aware of itand I am going to get to some
pointers and things that we canthink about when it comes to the
ways that we encounter this andnavigate this, but definitely
in curriculum it's there in bothdirect and indirect ways.
(23:43):
There are also assignments thatkids might get that really
perpetuate diet culture or startseeding these beliefs about
there being a hierarchy aroundfood, like good foods versus bad
foods, and these are subtlethings that are showing up in
health curricula more with theintention of just supporting our
kids and being healthier, wherewe're telling them you should
(24:06):
eat more of this or less of that, and those things we know are
not actually helping our kidseat more variety or learn how to
self-regulate or learn how totrust their bodies.
Yet they're showing up in verysneaky ways and at very young
ages, and I'm hearing storiesfrom parents all over the
country, particularly here inthe US, who are talking about
(24:26):
ways that this is showing up fortheir kids, and I understand as
a parent.
It's very heartbreaking, it canbe very disheartening and it can
definitely bring out that mamabear.
I know for me, and especiallyif you're a parent who is in
recovery from an eating disorderor who has had a difficult
relationship with food andyou're like, not on my watch, I
do not want my kids to encounterthe same damaging things that I
(24:49):
struggled with.
You might find that you're morehypersensitive to some of these
things that may come up and youmight find yourself reacting
and you might find anger risingup in your body and oftentimes
that's connected to our owntrauma around food and our
bodies, especially if weencountered it in different ways
in school growing up.
(25:09):
And this is where I want us tobe able to channel that anger
and use it for good, and I knowit can be hard to it can be
really frustrating, and it takeseverything in me sometimes to
not just march in and say howcan we figure this out, how can
we change this?
And I do think there's waysthat we can collaborate and work
with our teaching professionalsto better support our kids
(25:33):
because, again, a lot of this iscoming from nationwide levels,
from curriculum writers who arevery entrenched in diet culture,
and there are so much weightstigma and fat phobia at
nationwide levels that's justtrickling down into our
educational systems, and so wecan start to chip away at it in
our little corners of the world,in our school districts, and
(25:57):
start advocating for differentways for approaching health and
nutrition and just food andbodies in our schools.
So just another couple examplesand then we will talk more
about things that we can do asparents.
But food tracking assignmentsthis is a big one that I'm
seeing more on the high schoollevel and definitely in college
(26:17):
too, but where kids are beingtold to track what they eat,
many of them are beingencouraged to utilize some kind
of tracking device, like myFitness Pal or their Apple Watch
, or utilize programs where theyput in everything that they eat
, which, by the way, are notaccurate, and these are all
things that again can see thebelief that how they're eating
(26:39):
or their bodies way of eating ortheir preferences are wrong and
can't be trusted.
Because tracking their foodintake is usually just one part
of the assignment.
I know that there's usually asecond part that entails now,
how can you decrease yourcalories so that they're more in
your range level, which, again,those metrics that try to
(27:00):
estimate what somebody'scalories need are not really
accurate.
And our bodies are not stagnant.
Our needs are constantlychanging, but this is really
hard to explain and wedefinitely can't capture this in
one nutrition assignment orfood diary assignment, and so
this is creating a lot ofconfusion for kids, and any type
(27:21):
of quantifiable approach tofood can be such a trigger for
disordered eating.
Because now we're talking aboutmeasuring food and tracking and
counting calories, and I knowfrom so many moms that I've
worked with that oftentimes thisaspect of their eating disorder
or their struggle with food intheir body stemmed from one of
these assignments where theylearned essentially how to track
(27:43):
calories.
And now it's like I can't stopmentally thinking about how much
I'm eating or what I'm eating,and all of these things take us
away from our bodies innatewisdom of how and what to eat,
away from our innate intuitiveeating abilities, which makes
food so much more chaotic.
And so we want to be aware ofany of those type of assignments
(28:05):
that our kids might be getting.
But again, this can be subtle.
This might be for younger kids,where they're taught to sort
foods into different categories,like what are better for you
foods and what are sometimesfoods, what are junk food?
Any time we're attaching alabel to food or categorizing it
, we're creating a hierarchy.
That's a subtle way ofcommunicating to our kids that
(28:26):
there are good versus bad foods.
And again, we understand fromresearch that any time that food
is categorized, it makes itmore complicated for our kids,
and our kids are actually lesslikely to eat the foods that we
tell them are better for them orhealthier for them.
They're actually more likely tobecome adverse to eating those
foods and the foods that wedemonize, the foods that we say
(28:47):
are off limits or that youshould be eating less of, these
things actually will become moreglorified in their mind and
they're more likely to want toseek out those foods.
And that can create so muchconfusion, starting from young
ages, and this is where we wantto look at the nutrition and
health curriculum that our kidsmight be exposed to and
(29:08):
recognize where diet culture isshowing up.
Is it communicating thismessage that their body is wrong
, that their body can't betrusted?
Is it attaching any shame tofood or how they're eating or
their body's sizes?
These are all things that wewant to be aware of.
Lastly, I just wanted to touchon just how diet culture might
(29:28):
show up in your child'sindividual classroom.
So we talked about curriculum,we talked about campaigns that
are coming from a nationwidelevel, and there's also things
that your child may encounter intheir classroom, at school,
amongst friends, while eating,at the lunch table or in the
cafeteria, and this one can beharder because, again, this is
(29:48):
things that may be moredifficult to advocate or change
because it's happening aroundthem, but this can include
things like having their lunchbox being policed, and this is
something that has come up a lot.
I've heard it from many parentspeople that are very close to
me talk to me about how theirkids are being told at school
(30:10):
what order to eat their food in,or parents being told to please
pack healthier snacks for theirkids because the things that
they're sending are not healthyenough.
And this can be reallychallenging to navigate as a
parent, and I will say,especially if you have a child
who is an anxious eater, if youhave a child who's more
selective with food, if you havea neurodivergent child or you
(30:32):
have a child with foodsensitivities, this can be
really challenging becauseyou're likely sending things to
school that you know your childwill eat.
I know for me this is again amore personal story, but last
year we were having some issueswith my son at school and he is
definitely neurodivergent andlearns differently, and the
classroom setting is just alittle more challenging for him
(30:53):
in terms of sitting for certainlengths of time.
He just needs more breaks andneeds to move his body a lot
more, and there was a discussionwith some of his teachers about
how food might be affecting hisbehavior.
And the other challenging aspectis that he is more selective
with food.
He has a lot of sensorysensitivities.
He's sensitive to certaintextures and just flavors and he
(31:16):
needs simpler foods in order toeat.
He's also more of an anxiouseater.
He's more likely to foregoeating altogether to go play,
and I understand these thingsabout him and how this affects
his mood and how this can affecthim if he's not eating anything
at all or if he's kind of goingon a hunger strike because
there's nothing familiar in hislunch and so he gets a lot of
(31:40):
processed foods in his lunch,like anyone might open up his
lunchbox and say, yikes, likethere's not enough fruits or
vegetables or things that aregoing to help him focus in
school.
But this is where we have tounderstand big picture here.
Like I would rather my son goto school and eat something that
he's comfortable with than noteat anything at all because he
(32:02):
doesn't have anything familiaror it's not meeting the criteria
of what the school is saying ishealthy for him.
And I know that a lot ofteachers are also under pressure
too and that it's hard when youhave a classroom full of kids
and you don't have enoughsupport or you don't have aids
to support you with kids thathave different learning needs,
and so this can be a challengingarea.
(32:22):
However, when it comes topolicing our kids school lunches
, this can create a lot ofanxiety and shame for kids, and
this is something that I'veheard from a lot of parents,
where kids are coming home withlunchbox full, or they may not
eat their cookie or their ricecrispy treat because there was
some shame attached to it, orthey're getting notes from their
teachers requesting to senddifferent things, and this can
(32:45):
be really challenging,especially without knowing a
family's culture or a family'slearning needs, or whether or
not a family is dealing withfood insecurity, or whether a
family is dealing with mental orphysical health conditions that
are making it harder to groceryshop or pack lunches, and so
they're reaching for what iseasiest and most convenient.
So there's a lot that can showup here and again.
(33:08):
This is not faulting anybody,but just maybe lack of awareness
and education around howchildren may be impacted when
their lunchboxes are beingpoliced or there's rules around
what they have to eat, or likeyou have to eat your protein or
your vegetable first and thenyou can have your dessert.
Things like that can reallymess with a kid's brain.
(33:28):
They might also hear commentsfrom peers, or peers saying, oh,
I can't eat that, that has toomuch sugar in it, or I'm not
allowed to eat that, or that'sgross, why would you eat that?
I mean just a generalcommentary around.
Children can be hard for a childto navigate, and it can also
influence how they feel aboutfood or how they're eating or
(33:48):
what they're eating in school.
So I know I've just talkedthrough some examples.
I know there are countless moreand I would love to hear from
you just where you see dietculture showing up in your
child's schools, how this isresonating with you, or where
you're concerned or findingyourself concerned when you're
noticing diet culture showing upin your child's school setting.
(34:09):
I know it can be tough and, ineffort to break up these
episodes a little bit and notmake them too long, I think what
I'm going to do is do part twoon this next week.
So we will pick up on what youcan do when you are aware of
diet culture in different waysshowing up in your child's
school setting, how to navigateit and what you might be able to
(34:32):
do about it, because I know,again, this is a big topic and I
want to be able to give yousome resources and help you
through this.
But I hope this is just anintroduction or overview into
the ways that diet culture isshowing up in schools, but I'm
not going to leave you hanging,I promise.
So I hope you'll come back nextweek.
We will pick up and talk aboutthings that you can do, ways
(34:52):
that you can support your childas you're encountering diet
culture in these sneaky andsubtle ways.
So I can't wait to connect withyou next week and continue the
conversation and again, if youhave any questions or things
that I can support you with,please be sure to connect with
me.
I would love to hear from you.
So we will pick up next week.
Can't wait to talk then.
Thank you for listening to thisweek's episode of the Lift the
(35:13):
Shame podcast.
For more tips and guidance onyour motherhood journey, come
connect with me on Instagram atCrystalCarGaze.
Until next week, mama, I'll becheering you on.
Bye for now.
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