If you are worried about childhood obesity, BMI percentiles, or your child’s eating habits, this episode is for you.

As a pediatrician, I see how often parents are told to focus on weight, growth charts, and body mass index, or BMI. But when we focus only on the number, we miss the deeper factors influencing your child’s health, emotional eating patterns, and relationship with food.

In this episode of Family in Focus, I explain why weight is often just the tip of the iceberg and what parents need to understand beneath the surface to support healthy and sustainable change.

So much of what we are taught to focus on is what we can see. The number on the scale. The BMI percentile. The growth chart. The food choices. When those numbers rise, it can feel urgent and scary.

But what if weight is not the root issue?

This episode explores the factors that influence child weight gain, eating habits, and overall health, including genetics, environment, hormones, social influences, and emotions.

I also share a story from my pediatric practice that changed the way I approach conversations about child weight and growth. It is a reminder that behind every number is a child navigating weight stigma, body image pressure, and emotional experiences we cannot see.

This episode is not about ignoring health. It is about understanding it more fully.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why focusing only on weight, BMI, and growth charts can cause harm

The iceberg metaphor and what influences child weight beyond food

How genetics, environment, and hormones impact eating habits

Emotional eating in kids and how feelings shape behavior

The impact of weight stigma and body image pressure on children and teens

Why connection based parenting creates healthier long term outcomes

At Family in Focus, I help parents improve their child’s eating habits and health without shame, food battles, or pressure. This episode is an invitation to slow down, get curious, and support your child’s health in a way that builds trust instead of fear.

New episodes air every Wednesday.

Join The Exhale, my newsletter for parents who want less stress around food, body image, and child weight concerns and more confidence in how they are supporting their kids.
https://www.wendyschofermd.com/the-exhale

If you would like support putting this into practice in your home, learn more about how I work with families at:
https://www.wendyschofermd.com

To schedule a consult:
https://wendyschofermdscheduling.as.me/consult

Follow along and continue the conversation:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendyschofermd/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyschofermd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendyschofermd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-schofer-md/

While I am a doctor, I am not your doctor. This podcast is for education, not medical advice.

If you are trying to help your child make changes and it feels like nothing is working, this episode is for you.

I hear it every day from parents. Food feels like a battle. Screens feel impossible to limit. Movement feels forced. And no matter how hard you try, it can start to feel like you are failing over and over again.

In this episode, I want to say this clearly. You are not failing.

What is failing is the approach that has been handed to you. The plans, prescriptions, and one size fits all advice that assumes change should happen through control and pressure. I know this because I used to practice that way too. As a pediatrician and a parent, I followed the plans exactly, both in my office and in my own home. And they did not work.

This episode is about the shift that changed everything for me.

Instead of starting with what needs to be fixed, we start with what is already working. Even when things feel hard, there is something going well. That one thing becomes stable ground. It becomes the place where trust grows and where real change can begin.

In this episode, I talk about:

-Why feeling stuck is such a common parenting experience

-How prescriptive approaches create frustration and shame

-Why starting with what is going well changes the entire conversation

-A simple practice you can use today with yourself and your child

At Family in Focus, I help parents lead change without harm. This episode is an invitation to stop proving you are not failing and start building from the strengths that are already there.

New episodes air every Wednesday.

Join The Exhale, my newsletter for parents who want less stress around food and body, and more confidence in how they are supporting their kids.
https://www.wendyschofermd.com/the-exhale

If you would like support putting this into practice in your home, you can learn more about how I work with families at https://www.wendyschofermd.com

To schedule a consult:

https://wendyschofermdscheduling.as.me/consult

Follow along and continue the conversation:

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendyschofermd/

-TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyschofermd

-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendyschofermd

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-schofer-md/

While I am a doctor, I am not your doctor. This podcast is for education, not medical advice.

Some days, parenting does not just feel hard. It feels confusing.

You are trying to do the right thing for your child, especially around food and health, but the messages are overwhelming. Eat this. Do not eat that. Worry about weight. Do not talk about weight. Move more. Stress less. Somewhere in all of that, it can start to feel like you are failing.

If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. You are in the right place.

Welcome to Family in Focus, where I help parents lead meaningful change without harm. I am Dr. Wendy Schofer, and this episode opens Season 2 by setting a different foundation for how we think about children’s health, food, and family life.

This season is not about quick fixes, control, or micromanaging your child. It is about creating change through connection, emotional awareness, and relationships, so progress does not come at the cost of trust or well-being.

In this episode, I talk about:

-Why so many parents feel stuck around food and health

-How shame and pressure quietly disrupt relationships

-Why emotions are not the problem but important signals

-How connection creates the conditions for lasting change

This episode is an invitation to slow down, exhale, and begin again.

When you are ready, Episode 2 is where we take the first step forward by starting with what is already going well.

Join The Exhale, my newsletter for parents who want less stress around food and body, and more confidence in how they are supporting their kids.
https://www.wendyschofermd.com/the-exhale

Learn more about how I support families at:

https://www.wendyschofermd.com

Schedule a consult here:

https://wendyschofermdscheduling.as.me/consult

Follow along and continue the conversation:

-Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendyschofermd/

-TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyschofermd

-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendyschofermd

-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-schofer-md/

While I am a doctor, I am not your doctor. This podcast is for education, not medical advice.