How to Talk with Kids about Fatness

Diet culture permeates our society. And that’s impacting our kids. Children as young as 3 learn to associate being fat with negative traits, and anti-fat bias can be found in the doctor’s office, in the classroom and on the sports field. In her new book “Fat Talk,” author Virginia Sole-Smith argues we need to take a new approach to how we navigate and discuss fatness and anti-fat bias with our children. Because the current stigmatization isn’t making our kids any healthier. We talk with Sole-Smith about why the word “fat” is OK to use, how to talk about body size and why diets — even those masked as lifestyle changes — can backfire with children and adults.