# Body, weight and diet talk

**How should we talk about bodies, weight and dieting around our child?**

How you talk about bodies, weight and diets at home, from avoiding weight talk entirely to treating weight as a health measure when a doctor raises it.

In short: Parents choose between 3 main approaches: No weight or diet talk, habits only (AAP 2016); Weight-neutral household; Weight discussed as a health measure, managed if the pediatrician flags it (AAP 2023). Evidence: evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. Best settled: school age.

- Area: Food and eating
- Evidence: Evidence leans one way
- Best settled: School age
- First published: 2026-10-03
- Last updated: 2026-10-05
- Page: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/topics/food-and-eating--body-weight-and-diet-talk

## Body, weight and diet talk: what are the options?

1. **No weight or diet talk, habits only (AAP 2016)**: You never discuss weight or dieting, and talk only about healthy habits.
2. **Weight-neutral household**: No body is praised or criticized for its size in your home.
3. **Weight discussed as a health measure, managed if the pediatrician flags it (AAP 2023)**: Weight is treated as a health measure and addressed if the doctor raises it.

## Body, weight and diet talk: what does the evidence say?

**Evidence leans one way.** Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational. (Leans; treatment approach contested)

Diet and weight talk raise the risk of both obesity and eating disorders; the 2023 obesity guideline drew criticism from eating-disorder groups

Sources:

- [Stanford Medicine](https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2016/08/new-guidelines-offer-one-approach-to-prevent-teen-obesity-eating-disorders.html)
- [Journal of Adolescent Health](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11556371/)

## What else is worth knowing?

Children absorb how adults talk about bodies and dieting. Pediatric guidance has advised focusing on healthy habits rather than weight, while also treating obesity as a medical issue. How you talk about your own body counts too.

## Questions to ask each other

- How did people talk about weight and food in our families?
- What words do we want to avoid around our child?
- What would we do if the pediatrician raised a concern about weight?

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General information, not medical advice. Two parents can each answer this and compare: https://www.raisingyourchild.com/explore?cat=food-and-eating&topic=food-and-eating--body-weight-and-diet-talk