When your child says “I’m fat,” what do you say back? When grandma makes a comment at the table, do you step in? How do you raise kids who have a healthy relationship with food and their body without falling into diet culture or going so far the other way that health gets ignored? Parenting coach Albiona Rakipi sits down with Dr. Whitney Caceres — pediatrician, founder of Modern Mommy Doc, and author of Raising Body Confident Kids — to answer all of it. Dr. Whitney breaks down how body shame gets passed between generations, what to say (and what not to say) when kids make comments about bodies, the difference between diet culture and body literacy, and how to handle extended family who weren’t raised with the same awareness. She also walks through practical yay-or-nay guidance on everything from birthday party food to overeating to the 20-minute hunger pause rule. Honest, science-backed, and completely judgment-free.
What do you say when your child says “I’m fat”? What do you do when grandma makes a comment at the dinner table? How do you raise a kid who has a healthy relationship with food and their body without swinging into diet culture or untethered “anything goes” territory? Dr. Whitney Caceres has the answers — and they’re more nuanced and more doable than anything you’ll find in a parenting trend.
Albiona sits down with Dr. Whitney, a board-certified pediatrician, founder of Modern Mommy Doc, and author of the new book Raising Body Confident Kids, to talk about breaking the generational cycle of body shame — starting with the stories we’re still carrying ourselves.
Inside, they explore:
About Dr. Whitney Caceres:
Dr. Whitney Caceres is a board-certified pediatrician, speaker, author, and founder of Modern Mommy Doc. She holds an MPH in maternal and child health from UC Berkeley, a journalism degree, and completed her pediatric residency at Stanford. Her new book, Raising Body Confident Kids: A Balanced Approach to Breaking the Cycle of Body Shame and Diet Culture, is out September 1st.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Connect with Albiona:
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Please rate, review, and share this one with a mom who’s still untangling her own relationship with her body while trying to raise kids who don’t have to. This conversation is for every parent who has ever caught themselves about to say the wrong thing — and wanted to do better.
Until next time,
Albiona 🤎