Discuss Pediatric Weight Gain Without Triggering Shame

What would you say if a parent asked, “Can you tell my son he needs to lose weight?”

That question sits at the center of one of the hardest conversations in pediatrics.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Amy Beck, clinical psychologist and expert in teen mental health and weight stigma, to unpack how we address pediatric obesity without causing unintended harm.

Because this isn’t just about weight. It’s about protecting kids in a culture obsessed with body size, while still doing our job as clinicians.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Common clinician missteps that unintentionally trigger shame
• Why focusing on numbers (weight, BMI, carbs) can backfire
• How to talk to a 5-year-old vs. a teenager
• What to say when teens give one-word answers
• How to navigate wo very different clinical scenarios:
  • A teen in a larger body with normal labs but poor body image
  • Rapid weight gain with elevated sugars, where intervention feels urgent

Working with teens is tough. Getting them to engage can feel even tougher.

Dr. Beck shares practical language, strategies, and mindset shifts to help you intervene medically without triggering restriction, shutdown, or long-term harm.

This episode is about striking the balance: preventing long-term medical complications while protecting a child’s mental health in the process.

Connect with Dr Beck

Health Psychology Partners

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Disclaimer: This podcast is a collection of ideas, strategies, and opinions of the author(s). Its goal is to provide useful information on each of the topics shared within. It is not intended to provide medical, health, or professional consultation or to diagnosis-specific weight or feeding challenges. The author(s) advises the reader to always consult with appropriate health, medical, and professional consultants for support for individual children and family situations. The author(s) do not take responsibility for the personal or other risks, loss, or liability incurred as a direct or indirect consequence of the application or use of information provided. All opinions stated in this podcast are my own and do not reflect the opinions of my employer.

Randomized controlled trials. Cohort studies. Abstracts. Methods sections.
If your brain starts spinning just hearing those words, you’re not alone.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Carlene Starck, a protein biochemist and nutrition scientist, to help clinicians who aren’t researchers learn how to spot high-quality research in a world full of misinformation.

Together, we walk through how a researcher evaluates a paper, what matters, what doesn’t, and why social media influencers often get the science wrong. We even unpack a real paper that went viral online to show how misleading conclusions can spread when studies are misquoted or misunderstood.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• A clear explanation and examples of the hierarchy of evidence
• What information you can (and can’t) get from an abstract
• Why the methods section matters (even though many of us skip it)
• How sample size, study design, and bias affect conclusions
• A simple framework for quickly assessing whether a paper is high quality

Here's the article we analyzed: A prospective birth cohort study on cord blood folate subtypes and risk of autism spectrum disorder - PubMed

Connect with Carlene on LinkedIn

Starck Science

Any Questions? Send Me a Message

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Connect with Colleen:
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LinkedIn
Sign up for my FREE Newsletter - Nutrition hot-topics delivered to your inbox each week.

Disclaimer: This podcast is a collection of ideas, strategies, and opinions of the author(s). Its goal is to provide useful information on each of the topics shared within. It is not intended to provide medical, health, or professional consultation or to diagnosis-specific weight or feeding challenges. The author(s) advises the reader to always consult with appropriate health, medical, and professional consultants for support for individual children and family situations. The author(s) do not take responsibility for the personal or other risks, loss, or liability incurred as a direct or indirect consequence of the application or use of information provided. All opinions stated in this podcast are my own and do not reflect the opinions of my employer.

If you’ve ever had a patient training for a marathon (or you are that patient) this episode will change how you think about fueling, injury risk, and longevity in running.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why runners over 35 are uniquely vulnerable to injury, even when they "eat healthy"
• Why so many runners under-consume carbohydrates (and how to explain carbs without triggering fear)
• How inadequate fat intake may increase injury risk
• High-yield screening questions clinicians can ask runners in a short visit
• What RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) really is and why it’s often missed in older athletes
• When sugar and ultra-processed foods actually make sense for endurance athletes

Connect with Erin

Ultra Appetites

Resources Mentioned:

Australian Institute of Sport

International Olympic Committee – RED-S Consensus Statement (2023)

RED-S Clinical Assessment Tool

American College of Sports Medicine Joint Position Statement

Any Questions? Send Me a Message

Support the show

Connect with Colleen:
Instagram
LinkedIn
Sign up for my FREE Newsletter - Nutrition hot-topics delivered to your inbox each week.

Disclaimer: This podcast is a collection of ideas, strategies, and opinions of the author(s). Its goal is to provide useful information on each of the topics shared within. It is not intended to provide medical, health, or professional consultation or to diagnosis-specific weight or feeding challenges. The author(s) advises the reader to always consult with appropriate health, medical, and professional consultants for support for individual children and family situations. The author(s) do not take responsibility for the personal or other risks, loss, or liability incurred as a direct or indirect consequence of the application or use of information provided. All opinions stated in this podcast are my own and do not reflect the opinions of my employer.