What if the words you say around food and exercise are contributing to your child's disordered eating?

Discover how to support your child's relationship with food and exercise in this episode of Equipped to Recover, featuring Oona Hanson, a knowledgeable and compassionate educator who holds a Master's degree in Educational Psychology. Oona specializes in guiding parents to support their children in developing healthy relationships with food and their bodies.

In this episode, you will be able to:

SHOW NOTES -  How to Help Children Build a Healthy Relationship With Food 

CONNECT WITH OONA HANSON

CONNECT WITH EQUIP

CONNECT WITH RECOVERY WARRIORS 🖤

Timestamped summary of this episode:

00:00:01 - Introduction, 
Kristina Saffran introduces the podcast and Oona Hanson, an educator with a master's degree in educational psychology who supports families in raising kids with healthy relationships with food and body.

00:01:25 - Journey to Eating Disorder Field, 
Oona Hanson talks about her journey into the eating disorder field and how she had a child who developed an eating disorder, despite her background in psychology and coaching athletics.

00:04:49 - Accessing Eating Disorder Treatment,
Oona Hanson talks about the difficulties she faced in finding the right treatment for her child and highlights the privilege she had in having access to good health insurance, a major metropolitan area, and a personal friend who could help.

00:08:03 - Finding Evidence-based Treatment,
Oona Hanson talks about the importance of evidence-based treatment and how she found Family-Based Treatment (FBT) to be the most effective in her child's recovery. She also discusses the treatment vacuum in the healthcare system and the need for more training and resources for pediatricians and families.

00:13:27 - Challenging Harmful Messages from Diet Culture, 
Oona Hanson talks about the challenges parents face in challenging harmful messages from diet culture and offers advice on starting with self-compassion and validating their own experiences. She emphasizes the importance of avoiding pressure on children to eat or look a certain way and instead focusing on creating a healthy food culture at home.

00:15:11 - Modeling Lifelong Learning as Parents, 
Parents should model self-compassion and lifelong learning. Families can change the way they approach food and exercise, and nobody regrets it. By disinvesting from the diet culture, parents can reduce their child's risk and support recovery from eating disorders.

00:16:55 - Learning from Mistakes, 
Parents may unintentionally reinforce diet culture messages, like complimenting weight loss, labeling foods as healthy or unhealthy, and demonizing certain foods. Parents should approach the topic with curiosity and ask questions to create a safe haven from diet culture.

00:19:36 - Shifting Parents' Thinking, 
Parents who are entrenched with their own diet culture beliefs may worry about their child's weight or what they eat. It's essential to approach those parents with curiosity, empathy, and without blame. Baby steps can move them from point A to point B, and family mentor roles and support groups can be helpful.

00:23:28 - Baby Steps and Approaching with Empathy, 
To help parents shift their mindset, it's crucial to approach the topic from a non-shaming, non-blaming place, and take baby steps. Parents have been swimming in the diet culture sea for decades, and it will take time to move them into a new mindset. Family groups and support groups can be helpful.

00:28:11 - Full Weight Restoration and Fighting Fat Phobia, 
Full weight restoration is essential for enabling people to live a life free of the eating disorder

00:29:34 - Family Support and Growth, 
Families that support each other and share their experiences have seen incredible growth. Parents realizing that their child needed more than initially thought or that their child is happier at a higher weight has been powerful. Seeing the recovery of others can change hearts and minds.

00:31:08 - Preventing Eating Disorders, 
Parents can prevent eating disorders by taking stock of their beliefs about food and bodies, opening themselves up to learning more, and modeling healthy behaviors. Parents should stay aware of external influences that their children may experience and keep the dialogue going.

00:34:35 - Words of Wisdom, 
Be compassionate with yourself and validate what you are going through. Get the support you need to keep moving forward and avoid getting stuck. Recovery from an eating disorder requires going through a period of discomfort, but you don't have to do it alone.

00:35:00 - Staying Connected with Oona Hanson, 
Oona Hanson can be found on Instagram at @oona_hanson and on her website at unahansen.com. She specializes in family support and has worked with the organization, Equip. 

00:35:43 - Takeaway, 
Recovery from an eating disorder is possible and requires self-compassion, support, and discomfort. Parents can model healthy behaviors and provide a safe, supportive environment for their children. Stay connected and reach out for help when needed.