In this episode of The Lifestyle Prescription by Pharmacy Planet, host Rena Dipti Annobil sits down with Dr Anna Colton, Clinical Psychologist, Eating Disorder Specialist, and author of How to Talk to Children About Food, to explore one of the most important yet often overlooked influences on children's wellbeing: the relationship parents have with food.
From eating disorders and body image pressures to diet culture, social media, GLP-1 weight loss injections, and family food habits, this thought-provoking conversation examines how our beliefs about food are shaped and how they can be passed from one generation to the next.
Drawing on over 20 years of clinical experience, Dr Colton explains why food is far more than fuel. It represents culture, connection, celebration, identity, and emotion. The discussion offers practical advice for parents looking to build healthier food environments at home while avoiding shame, fear, and restrictive thinking.
Whether you're raising children, supporting teenagers, or simply reflecting on your own relationship with food, this episode offers valuable insights into creating a healthier and more positive approach to eating.
Food keeps us alive, but according to Dr Colton, reducing it to nutrition alone misses its wider significance.
Food helps us celebrate milestones, connect with family, share culture, and build relationships. Many of our strongest memories are tied to meals, celebrations, and traditions.
However, food can also become associated with shame, guilt, anxiety, and emotional control. When food becomes a way of managing emotions or measuring self-worth, relationships with eating can become increasingly complicated.
This balance between nourishment and emotion forms the foundation of the entire discussion.
```html
How Food Beliefs Are Passed Down Through Generations
One of the key themes explored is the concept of intergenerational food messaging.
Dr Colton explains that many of the attitudes we hold around food today were inherited from parents, grandparents, and even earlier generations.
Experiences such as:
Food scarcity
Poverty
Health anxieties
Weight stigma
Dieting behaviours
can all influence the messages families unknowingly pass down to children.
Phrases many people grew up hearing, such as "clean your plate" or warnings about certain foods being "bad," often stem from previous generations' experiences rather than current nutritional understanding.
The challenge for parents is recognising their own "food baggage" before unintentionally passing it on.
The Hidden Impact of Diet Culture
Throughout the episode, Dr Colton challenges many of the assumptions promoted by modern diet culture.
She argues that society increasingly categorises foods as "good" or "bad," creating anxiety and guilt around eating.
This approach can be particularly harmful for children, who are still developing their understanding of food and body image.
According to Dr Colton, healthy eating should focus on balance rather than rigid rules, restriction, or moral judgement. When food becomes associated with worthiness or virtue, it can contribute to long-term difficulties with eating behaviours.
Why Parents Need to Model Healthy Behaviours
One of the most practical takeaways from the conversation is the importance of modelling.
Children learn far more from what parents do than what they say.
Parents may tell children that all foods can fit into a balanced lifestyle, but if children regularly see adults skipping meals, criticising their bodies, or constantly dieting, those behaviours often become the stronger message.
As Dr Colton explains:
"Model, don't tell."
Creating a positive food environment begins with examining our own relationship with food first.
Body Image, BMI and Children's Health
The discussion also tackles one of the most controversial aspects of childhood health: weight monitoring and BMI.
Dr Colton raises concerns about school weighing programmes and questions the usefulness of BMI as a measure of health.
She explains that BMI was never originally designed as an individual health assessment tool and does not account for factors such as:
Muscle mass
Ethnicity
Body composition
Developmental stage
Most importantly, she highlights that weight gain during puberty, particularly for girls, is both normal and essential. Body fat plays a crucial role in healthy hormonal development and reproductive health.
This section provides valuable context for parents navigating conversations about weight and body changes during adolescence.
Social Media, Influencers and the Pressure to Be Thin
Body image pressures are not new, but social media has amplified them dramatically.
Rena and Dr Colton discuss the resurgence of "thin is in" culture and the influence of social media trends on both adults and young people.
Wellness content can sometimes spread misinformation
Young people need help developing critical thinking skills online
Dr Colton stresses the importance of teaching children to question the qualifications and expertise of the people they follow online rather than accepting advice at face value.
GLP-1 Weight Loss Injections and Modern Diet Culture
One of the most topical parts of the discussion focuses on GLP-1 medications.
Dr Colton acknowledges that these treatments can be highly effective and clinically appropriate for some patients.
However, she also raises concerns about the growing use of weight-loss injections for aesthetic reasons rather than medical necessity.
The wider concern, she argues, is the message this sends to young people.
When society increasingly celebrates weight loss as a marker of success or self-improvement, it reinforces the belief that thinner bodies are inherently more valuable.
The discussion highlights the need for balanced conversations about health that go beyond appearance alone.
Raising Confident Children Around Food
So, what can parents do?
Dr Colton advocates for creating mealtimes that prioritise:
Connection
Conversation
Enjoyment
Variety
Curiosity
Rather than focusing on control, rewards, punishments, or strict food rules.
She also discusses the concept of the Division of Responsibility, where parents decide what food is offered and children decide how much they eat. This approach can reduce conflict and help children develop trust in their own hunger and fullness cues.
The goal is not perfection.
The goal is helping children develop a positive and sustainable relationship with food.
Understanding Intuitive Eating
A recurring theme throughout the episode is learning to listen to the body.
Dr Colton explains that many adults have become disconnected from their natural hunger and fullness signals through years of dieting, calorie counting, and food rules.
Instead of external rules dictating what and when to eat, intuitive eating encourages people to rebuild trust in their body's own cues.
For children especially, maintaining this connection can support healthier eating habits and reduce the risk of future food-related difficulties.
Warning Signs of Eating Disorders
The episode concludes with practical guidance on recognising potential eating disorders.
Warning signs can include:
Rapid weight changes
Restricting food groups
Fear around certain foods
Excessive focus on body image
Food disappearing unexpectedly
Changes in mood and energy
Missing menstrual periods
Distress around mealtimes
Dr Colton encourages parents and loved ones to approach concerns with curiosity and compassion rather than judgement. Early conversations and early support can make a significant difference.
Dr Anna's Lifestyle Prescription
When asked for one lifestyle prescription to improve wellbeing, Dr Colton's answer was simple:
Find more joy.
Whether through food, movement, relationships, hobbies, or everyday experiences, she encourages people to focus less on rules and more on enjoyment.
Her advice is particularly relevant in a world increasingly dominated by food anxiety, diet culture, and unrealistic expectations.
As she puts it:
"Do one thing every day that brings joy."
Podcast Transcript
REENA X ANNA2
Dr Anna Colton: Many of the wellness influencers are not trained or qualified, so the information is not rigorous, it's not accurate, it's not robust. You would- A good relationship with food reduces your risk of all food-related, uh, disorders. You know? If, if you-
Rena Annobil: I'll tell you what, if you finish all your broccoli, I'm gonna let you have dessert. But no pudding for me, because I'm on a diet. Did you grow up hearing phrases like that? And if you are a parent or carer, have you ever stopped to think about how your own relationship with food might be shaping your child's relationship with food?
For a lot of young people today, the pressures around body image are relentless, and for some of- some people, it turns into a daily struggle with food and self-worth. In this episode of The Lifestyle Prescription, we are gonna be exploring how to break negative behaviors around food, how to create calmer mealtimes, and how to build a healthier relationship with food in general for both you and your children.
My name is Rena Annable, and my guest in the studio is Dr. Anna Colton, a clinical psychologist and eating disorder specialist. And she's also the author of this really thought-provoking book called How to Talk to Children About Food. Thank you so much for joining me, Dr. Anna. Oh, thank
Dr Anna Colton: you so much for having me.
It's lovely to be here.
Rena Annobil: So as I said in my intro-
Dr Anna Colton: Mm-hmm ...
Rena Annobil: clinical psychologist, you've got over 20 years of experience. Yep. And, uh, before we get into to food and all that kind of stuff, I just wanna know: what was it that, um, drew you to specializing in eating disorders and adolescents?
Dr Anna Colton: That's a, that's a really great question, and I will try and be brief, 'cause I could waffle away for far too long on that.
Um, I guess I, I grew up with, in, in, in school, yeah, I was in girls' school, and there was anorexia everywhere. And about four or five girls in my year actually ended up in hospital at different stages- Hmm ... being treated for anorexia. So I was really quite aware of it. Um, food and weight and shape was a thing.
Adolescence, I mean, I'm probably still pretty teenage. I've never grown out of it. I love teenagers. I love it. I think it's the most amazing period of life. It's, it's, it can feel really rubbish for many years. Mm-hmm. But, but knowing how the brain rewires, all the changes that go in with, with, within- neurologically as well as physiologically and sexually and hormonally, it's, it's the, the kind of the absolute combination, I think, adolescence.
And one of the things I really liked of- Brain, body, psychology, social, emotional all coming together- Mm ... in this melting pot. Um, and it's, it's, an- and that's really interesting. And fundamentally, I just love that age and stage- Mm ... as I say, and I'm probably still quite stuck in it. So the combination of really enjoying that and a lot of the work being around eating disorders and, and I specialize, I do all eating disorders and always have, but I've probably done more anorexia.
Rena Annobil: Okay.
Dr Anna Colton: Um, and again, that's really quite brain-based and very physiological. Mm. And I really like that, that kind of grazing the medical side as well as the psychology.
Rena Annobil: Mm. I, I agree with the thing about teenagers. I think it's a really interesting phase, and I think they get a bad rep as well. I love hanging around with teenagers.
They
Dr Anna Colton: get,
Rena Annobil: yeah. I find them fascinating.
Dr Anna Colton: So I think teenagers are the most degraded group in society, and it's- Wow ... really, if y- if you look at what people say, "Oh my God, it's a gang of youths."
Rena Annobil: Mm.
Dr Anna Colton: Like, yes, it can look intimidating when 20 teenagers are walking down the street- Yeah ... in hoodies, but they're probably much more intimidated and feeling much less comfortable- Yeah, absolutely
in themselves and their bodies- Yeah ... um, than anyone else. Uh, there's so much denigration that goes through the literature- Yeah ... that goes through, um, the media.
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: And it's a fantastic population of people and, and it's a time of working out who you are. It's such a, such a seminal, important- Exactly ... few years.
Who am I? Who do I wanna be? How do I wanna show up?
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: You know? These are really important questions. What's my identity? How do I separate? How do I individuate? Fundamental.
Rena Annobil: Mm. And we're gonna come back onto teenagers and their relationship with, with their bodies and self-image and food as well in a bit.
But I wanted to just bring our conversation onto food, which obviously it's, it's a very simple equation. You know, we need food to live, clearly, and you've obviously put in your book how it's, it's functional and we need to talk to kids about food in a, in a functional way, a, a factual way. Um, it can also bring us a lot of joy, right?
Oh. And it's cultural, so many things. But then what are some of the, the other emotions that are linked to food?
Dr Anna Colton: I should say, yes, it's functional, but it's so much more. Yeah. Or not even but, and it's so much more. You know, it, it is. So we must have it, it, to survive. That's the very kind of easy, straightforward basic.
But then, as you say, it brings us joy, it brings us social connection, it brings us coming together as community. These are all the, the kind of the good things that it- Yeah ... that it brings. It, it's a way of sharing. You can share your, your heritage, or you can share your celebration or your, your milestones.
You can, you can share stories of your, your youth, your family, all through food across the table. You can, you can have a joint experience. You know, these things are so important. The flip side, of course, is that-
Rena Annobil: Mm ...
Dr Anna Colton: particularly today, but al- for the last many decades, it can become mired in shame and blame and guilt.
It can be used to punish just as much as it can be used to reward. It can be used as a kind of vehicle of, of, of a communicator of emotion, and that's when things go wrong, is when food is the communication. Uh, either it, either it's the, the vehicle for power play, or it's the vehicle of I communicate my emotion or I manage my emotion like this, and that's when things get very confused and distressing.
Rena Annobil: Mm. So in your house growing up, what were conversations around food like and attitudes to food?
Dr Anna Colton: When I was growing up? Yeah. Um, I mean, like, very atypical actually. You know, um, my mom was a very fussy eater. Very, very fussy. Right. Um, my dad ate anything. Uh, my mom ate outrageously slowly. My dad ate incredibly fast.
Okay. You know, my mum, my mum had at school in her generation been, been made to eat school lunches that she absolutely hated, and she refused to ever make any of us eat food we didn't like. Mm. So she would make more meals. She didn't mind if, if not everyone ate the same thing. She was, you know, in some ways it was slightly mad.
Drove my dad mad, I think. But, um, i- in other ways, there wasn't the pressure that actually I often see, because she too was like, "Well, I don't, I don't eat all this stuff."
Rena Annobil: Right.
Dr Anna Colton: You know? And she's out now.
Rena Annobil: Okay. Quite relaxed then.
Dr Anna Colton: W- from that perspective, quite relaxed. Mm. We, we had a lot of, we had a big family, have a big family, um, that it was open house.
There was a lot of- Mm ... a lot of big meals, a lot of entertaining through food, a lot of socializing through food. So it, it was, the f- the fridge was always totally overfull.
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm.
Dr Anna Colton: You know, that, that was- Okay ... my experience.
Rena Annobil: Okay.
Dr Anna Colton: Um, yeah.
Rena Annobil: So these kind of attitudes towards food and how we grow up in our families and, are they, do you think, in your experience, just naturally passed on generation to generation?
Dr Anna Colton: The intergenerational transmission is a thing. Intergenerational, which, by which I mean, you know, our, our ancestors, our great-grandparents kind of put their attitudes onto their gr- onto their children, therefore our grandparents- Mm ... onto our parents, our parents onto us, us onto our kids. And if we're not aware of what we carry-
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm
Dr Anna Colton: we will inadvertently pass it to our kids. It's inevitable. Yeah. It's not a choice. You have to be very aware to have a choice about, what do I want my child to grow up believing? You know, what do I want them to feel around food? Do I want it to be something they're anxious about? And actually, I would say quite a lot of parents do want that.
Not if you say, "Would you like your child to be anxious?" They'll say, "No, absolutely not." Mm. But if you say, "Do you want them to be really mindful of their health and know what's good- Yeah ... and bad?" And I put it in air qu- inverted commas because I don't believe in good and bad really, but you know what the, what they should eat, what they shouldn't eat, don't agree with that either.
Mm. But a lot of parents will say, "Yes, I think that's very important."
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: So there's, there's, there's a real conflict around it. So you need to know what you carry and what your baggage is with food so that you can have choices about what you pass down to your kids.
Rena Annobil: So are there any patterns where you see families and children develop difficult relationships with food?
Dr Anna Colton: Uh, uh, all the time. I mean, that's what I do for a living, you know? So yes. Yeah. All the time-
Rena Annobil: Okay ...
Dr Anna Colton: I see that. So for example, often- And it can come out in so many different ways. It can just be that, you know, for whatever reason, um, a grandparent or a parent has been quite anxious around, you know, their health.
You know, what must you eat for your heart? What should you do? You don't wanna eat too much fat. You don't wanna eat too much, you know, they would... You have too much fat, for example, because that's bad for heart health. That actually is, is slightly a myth, um, that has been debunked, uh, over the last number of years.
But then that is passed on, "Oh, no, no, I don't wanna eat that," or, "I, I... Oh, be really careful. You can't have too much fat because it's bad for your heart." Bit like you can't have too much sugar 'cause it's bad for your teeth. Now, in some ways, that's quite a good communication because it's about health, and it's quite factual, and yes, you do need to brush your teeth, but it can become loaded with so much more meaning.
Mm. You're gonna die if.
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dr Anna Colton: You're gonna die if, and you really need to pay attention, and you really, you know, this is a very important thing, and it's got a lot of meaning- Mm ... what you eat. A- and that can create a huge amount of anxiety. It can be something like, you know, that, that if a parent died of a certain illness And that was related somehow to diet in some way.
The fear of that can get passed down very easily. Um, and kids can become quite anxious. It can be that there's, there's been, you know, a, a, a history of, of overweight, uh, or obesity and that's caused a lot of trauma, and parents desperately don't want their children to experience that, and therefore put quite a lot of pressure on around weight and shape with the right intentions, right?
'Cause the bullying, the stigma, the shame, horrific.
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: But then the messages to their children are, "Your body size is absolutely fundamentally important to who you are, how you feel, your acceptance."
Rena Annobil: Mm.
Dr Anna Colton: And it can get very complicated. And if you've come from a background of, for example, if you've experienced food scarcity, food poverty, then that will carry on into how you relate to your children and whether they have to clear their plate, how you cope when they don't.
It's really complicated, and that's one of the reasons I really like working in food, because it's this thing we have to have. But it is so, there are so many meanings- Yeah ... across so many layers.
Rena Annobil: Mm. And that whole thing about cleaning your plate, I remember my dad saying that all the time, and then he used to tell us stories about how when they were young they didn't have much.
My mom had all these stories as well about how they didn't have much and, uh, you know, quite sad things like- Mm ... oh, you know, her, her brothers were given the meat i- in the, in the curry and then they just had the bones, and that kind of thing. So, you know, it's really like there's a whole thing of, "Oh, we, we're so lucky to be having this."
You know, we, we really thought that as well. Um, in the same way that sometimes anxiety can get passed on, do you see any positive things being passed on as well? And, and if we want to pass on positive things to our kids around food, what might those things be?
Dr Anna Colton: I mean, I do see positive things passed on. Um, I'm in a slightly skewed position, I suppose, because I work in eating disorders.
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: You know, and I work with people who struggle with food. Mm. So I spend a lot of time hearing, hearing the other side. But yes, absolutely, the joy and the celebration and everyone coming together for, "And I really wanna ha-" You know, birthday cake It's a really simple thing Yeah Did you grow up with birthday cakes being a thing?
That's a really positive association usually. What, what did your parent or your caregiver do on your birthday? And often, you know, some parents would have bought a cake, some parents would have made something- Mm-hmm ... absolutely glorious and, and that, that gets transferred down. So absolutely, and I would hope that the joy gets transferred down more than the pain and the shame.
I'm not sure it always does, but yes, the good stuff is passed on too. If you want to pass some of the positive associations to your children, then you really do need to model a positive association. Mm-hmm. And when I say model, it's how you behave. Or in psychology, you know, a, a working model is, is what we internalize from what we see.
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: So what is your internal working model around food? Well, if you want your kids to have a, a good relationship with food, you kinda- Mm ... need to, to do it. You need to show them what that looks like- Mm ... not tell them, because we learn- Yeah ... by watching, and children particularly. The younger they are, the more they learn by watching.
But teenagers will call you out. They'll say, "Yeah, you say that it doesn't matter, but you're not eating that."
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: And, and you'll be called out. It doesn't really matter what you say. It's what you do, and that's one of the really difficult things because for many- Yeah ... many of us, that puts us in a, a position of having to really step outside our comfort zone sometimes.
Rena Annobil: I mean, this book, this was a wake-up call to me, you know, 'cause I was reading some of it thinking, "Oh, my gosh, you know, I do these things. This is something that I'm un-learning." Um, it is such a, this is such a good book, and it's very easy to read as well. You know, I think a lot of people are gonna, it's gonna resonate with a lot of people, and this conversation will, will as well.
Um, you know, there is a lot of pressure on parents as to the health of, of the child, and they, and it's from when they're born, as we know. You know, you're a mom, I'm a mom, and you work in, in this area, so, so you know, Anna. But, um, if, if for example your child is overweight, uh, obviously nobody wants that because, uh, I don't know if it's still happening, but I remember there was a time not that long ago where your kids were weighed in school.
Then you got a letter- It is still
Dr Anna Colton: happening
Rena Annobil: Right. So then you get- Mm-hmm ... the letter through the door. Your child is in bold overweight if they're overweight, right? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. So then it's like, "Wow, oh, my God. What, what am I supposed to be doing?" Um, what can we do though? Because then naturally you're thinking, "Oh, my God, you know, sh- they do eat quite a few biscuits.
What am I gonna do? Am I being a bad mom? Should I restrict?" And, um- I don't know. What, what do you advise?
Dr Anna Colton: Look, it is a nightmare, actually. I do think it's a nightmare, and I think it's a nightmare because I think the amount of pressure that is put on parents- Yeah ... to take complete responsibility for their child's health- Mm
and for their child's everything, and for their own health, and for their own, is, is disgraceful, right? Because I think we live in a society, and we live in a society, um, where so many of the factors that contribute to this are at play, and we have no control over them. So for example, you buy the food you can afford.
Mm. You have to feed your child. That's the bottom line. And food is really expensive, and every parent does the very best that they can do. So yeah, that was one of my, my things in writing the book, actually, is how do I, how do I say you've gotta look at your own stuff without being blamey or judgey?
Because I, I'm a mum. I, I've done this. Sometimes it, it doesn't go the way you hope and- Mm ... you've tried your best, and it's gone wrong. Okay. We just work with that. So I'm, I'm acutely aware, but there, there is so much that is out of parents' control. There's so much out of our control, and the mixed messaging is really problematic.
You mustn't eat this, you mustn't eat that, but here you can get anything you want. Yeah. On demand and, and, and the foods that you would like your child to eat less of, or you would like to be able to eat less of, are the cheaper foods.
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: But they're often the poorer quality foods. And I'm not talking about good and bad, 'cause I really don't believe that, but, you know, we can talk about nutrient density.
Um, and actually, quite a lot of the very... If, if you've got a parent working, you know, shifts or nights or they're just two jobs, it's gotta be quick and easy, and often the quick and easy is, is poorer, uh, nutritional, is poor nutritionally.
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm.
Dr Anna Colton: But, but so, so that, that's my first thing. The other thing is it is a parent's responsi- it is a parent's responsibility to provide the food.
So the division of responsibility is you provide, you decide when, when you're, when you're serving the food and what you're serving- Mm ... and your child deserv- uh, decides or has responsibility for what they eat, whether they eat, how much they eat. Um, and actually, that takes a lot of pressure off, because you go, "This is the food.
That's it," you know? And then you have a lovely mealtime and you're connected and you're chatting about the day, and hopefully your child eats enough. When your child doesn't eat enough, it can get quite stressful. People say to me, "Yeah, yeah, you talk about..." Um, and, and this is kind of a very long-winded answer to your question.
"Yes, yes, you, but you t- you talk about, you know, helping them listen to their body, but what if they eat too much?" It is possible to say no. It is possible to have boundaries and remain neutral and remain non-judgmental. You can just say, "We've, we've, that, that's all there is for now. Um, there's some fruit if you'd like it."
It's just, it's, it's about the emotional loaded meaning you give to it. When that letter comes home from school saying your, your child is overweight, I mean, I, I made my, I opted my kids out. I didn't let them be weighed at school. And I, I want to say to everybody watching or listening, you can do that. If you- Right, I didn't
Rena Annobil: know that-
Dr Anna Colton: Yes, you can
but that's a good point. You can do that. I did not let it happen, because I disagree with it, and it starts the conversation about weight and body size at far too young an age. And when that, you know, the comparisons, you've gotta go in and be weighed, then a letter comes home, and your parent is potentially distressed, and then, then there are conversations about weight loss at five or six, and you're being set up for a lifetime of struggle with weight and food- Mm
and shape. So I, if you wanna opt your child out, feel free to opt your child out. You can. You just say, "No, I don't consent."
Rena Annobil: Okay.
Dr Anna Colton: Um, when it comes home and it says that- Yeah ... I mean, you have a decision to make as a parent. Do you agree? Because remember, BMI is a terrible indicator. It's a very- Mm ... very poor measure.
It was developed to, as a, as a statistical measure to me- to, to assess the average white European male That's what BMI, that's how it was developed back in the 1850s. It was not developed for health, but it became ... It got picked up by insurance companies who found it a useful way to categorize people for, you know, insurance pricing.
Rena Annobil: Wow.
Dr Anna Colton: And then it got picked up as a health measure, and it is, I mean, you know, it, it is really not the way to understand somebody's health because it's literally a mathematical- Mm ... equation of height and weight. That's it. S- And it doesn't take into account any f- other factors than height and weight.
Doesn't take muscle mass. Mm-hmm. Doesn't take, take heritage and, you know, different ethnicities have different BMI scales, uh, that, that, where, which is ... And, and I could go on for ages, so I'm not going to. I'm gonna stop. But it's a, a very poor measure. You will know if your child is overweight. It ... You do not need to- Mm.
I just don't think you need to be told, you know. And then you say, "Is this a problem, or is this, this just, you know, it's, it's a, it's a ... it's part of the ever-evolving trajectory of my child's development, is that, you know, they're about to have a growth spurt up, and their, their body shape will change"?
Yeah. Or do you wanna say, "Well, let's just slightly tweak what we do at home"? But instead of making it all about food, how do you build in some more exercise? Make sure they're not bored. Make sure they're not sitting on the sofa too much. Make sure that they're running around- Mm ... with their friends, um, outside.
And, and really think about that division of responsibility. What do you want to feed them? What do you wanna provide for dinner and snacks? Mm. It can be done.
Rena Annobil: I, I really like the fact that in this book you have pointed out that at certain points, especially for girls, they will- Mm ... there will be a gaining of fat, and it's so that you can start your period.
There must be. Yeah, yeah. And, and I think that's so important to ... I want young girls to know that. So do I. Because I don't think that they do know that. They
Dr Anna Colton: don't. I don't know why they don't. It should be part of PSHE. Yeah. Um, and, and just to clarify for everyone, that to go through puberty as a girl, you must gain not only weight, but you must gain body fat, because it is the body fat that enables the ovaries to work, and that stimulates the ovaries, that allows periods to begin, that allows menstruation, that allows you to progress through a healthy puberty.
It's why, for example, um, often the really elite gymnasts or ballet dancers get their periods really, really late.
Rena Annobil: Mm.
Dr Anna Colton: You know, 15, 16, 17, and probably 16, 17, 18, because there isn't enough body fat. And it's not about the number on the scale, it's about the percentage of fat. It's why female bodybuilders will lose their periods when they're competing.
It's why often the female marathon runners or athletes will lose their periods. There's not enough body fat. It's fundamentally important, and it comes before periods, right? Because it's the bit that stimulates the ovaries. And so it's, it's, it's the, the, the pre-pubertal or the early pubertal weight gain, um, that you see in girls that I really loathe this phase.
I loathe it, I loathe it, I loathe it with all my heart, but that thing that, you know, often in m- when I was younger people would say, "Oh, lots of puppy fat." I mean, can't bear it, but that's what's being described.
Rena Annobil: Okay. That's so important. That is so important to, to, for people to keep in mind, and especially because of media.
Yes. Now, uh, I grew up in the '90s and, and, like, in terms of I reached adulthood early 2000s, and around that time, the late '90s, early 2000s, being skinny was in fashion. Everybody wanted to look like Kate Moss, you know? Whether we were built like that or not, we aspired to be that. It's happening again. So these cycles obviously come around again.
That's what's happening. Now, it ... That and this goes against exactly what you're saying, the acceptance of we are going to gain fat as girls at this time. It is normal. Mm-hmm. So now there is the desire to, to be thin. Now, how, how do you see, uh, this? How much do you see this affecting young people? Social media, media, all these trends.
Dr Anna Colton: It's absolutely massive. It's a real problem.
Rena Annobil: Mm.
Dr Anna Colton: With the explosion of GLP-1s in particular, the weight loss jabs- The whole narrative is shifting back to thin is best. And by the way, there's a, there's a quick jab, and probably by the summer this year there'll be a tablet you can pop that's a GLP-1. And because, because that bit of the industry isn't regulated, it's being, they're being misused everywhere.
Um-
Rena Annobil: Because obviously they are great for some people that need them, right? Oh- So it's the misuse that we're talking about here.
Dr Anna Colton: Don't get me wrong, for the right people with the medical need-
Rena Annobil: Mm ...
Dr Anna Colton: they are a really important medication tool. They are a tool- Yeah ... even for the right people in a whole package of care.
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm.
Dr Anna Colton: Even for those people who need them. But what's happening is- To get them on the NHS is incredibly difficult because there are many criteria you have to meet.
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: Right? Um, only 5% of GLP-1 users in this country are prescribed by the NHS. 95% are self-funding Don't know if that's a statistic you know?
Rena Annobil: No, it's not.
Dr Anna Colton: 95% are buying them themselves.
Rena Annobil: Right.
Dr Anna Colton: Now, I think that's shocking. I think that's really damaging. And even if some of that 95% would meet many of the criteria, but not just every one- Mm-hmm ... so some of that 95%, even if it's 50/50, there's 50%, and it's not 50/50, it's, it's, it's, it's, you know, not that many.
Mm-hmm. But, you know, even if we said it's 50/50, 50% of people taking GLP-1s do not medically need them. They want them for aesthetic purposes.
Rena Annobil: Yeah. And we're seeing it now, why not, aren't we?
Dr Anna Colton: Everywhere. You know, the,
Rena Annobil: the, the Met Gala-
Dr Anna Colton: It's everywhere ...
Rena Annobil: recently.
Dr Anna Colton: I mean, the Met Gala,
Rena Annobil: what about- The, the people are shrinking like anything, right?
Dr Anna Colton: Yeah, but you, you notice it in your social circle.
Rena Annobil: Yeah, yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: I mean, we don't need the Met Gala. Yes, absolutely. We see it at the school gate. We see it everywhere, and it's a massive, massive problem because the messaging, remember, messaging is not just what we say. It's, it, it really is ... Actually, what we say is the least important part of our messaging often.
Mm-hmm. Um, it's, it's what we see happening. And so the messaging that's going out is, "Yeah, yeah, sure. You can be happy with your body, but I'm not happy with mine, so I'm just going to shrink it." Mm. No, and, and actually, this is really desirable. I mean, there's a whole women bit, female bit where, you know, if you look back through time, you've got
You, you can take one, uh, one, one celebrity and you'll see, "Oh, my God, put on, uh, so much weight." Yeah. "What does she think she's doing?" Then there's been weight loss, "Oh, my God, so skinny." Yeah. "Looks awful." Then changed her size again, "Oh, my God, what is this?" There's nothing that, that we can do right. Yeah. So there is a, there is a, a female thing there and, and a
Don't want to say the pa- patriarchal, but the patriarchal. The
Rena Annobil: patriarchal, yeah. I, I, I do think about how to- Influence ... uh, obviously, yeah. I, I think about how to counteract this in my own life because I, I've got three girls, and I've really had to address my own relationship with my body- Mm-hmm ... just because I'm trying to counteract all of that noise for them.
And the, and the, and skinny legend is, is a compliment now, you know? Skinny legend is
Dr Anna Colton: absolutely
Rena Annobil: a compliment. Oh, my God, you're such a skinny legend. Such a skinny legend. And it's like, I don't care if it's a joke or whatever it is, the, that association with skinny as a positive thing, I just, it just really, I don't know, it, it makes my skin crawl.
Dr Anna Colton: I, I agree. And it ... Even if it is a joke, the joke has meaning.
Rena Annobil: Yeah,
Dr Anna Colton: it does. And that's the point. The meaning is skinny good.
Rena Annobil: Yeah,
Dr Anna Colton: exactly. Right. Um, and, and, and we are seeing that. And so however much we say it, the issue is there. On social media, it's everywhere. I mean, there are, there are people pushing GLP-1s, and it's not only about GLP-1, so I, I will get off that, but people are pushing GLP-1s to say it's going to make your health better.
And that's now being, you know, wellness. It's all being, almost being put into the wellness silo. And it's not a wellness tool. They are not a wellness tool. They are a potent medication. But when they become branded as a wellness tool, suddenly it's, "Well, if I just wanna be- feel a bit better, I just... You know, it's healthy."
No, no, it's not. And so there's a huge educational piece, but there is a real responsibility, I think, on parents, on anybody who is in contact, uh, with young people, with children and teens, to counteract the messaging because GLP-1s have gone straight into the diet culture trope, which is thin is good, thin is morally better.
That's the, that's the, that's a real, um, important point is it's about morality and worth-
Rena Annobil: Yeah ...
Dr Anna Colton: and your value in the world. You are a more valuable person. You're more worthy of success or love or attention or a partner or whatever it may be-
Rena Annobil: Mm ...
Dr Anna Colton: if you are slimmer, thinner. Yeah. Um, it's the, you know, the praising or wh- you know, you look after yourself.
The assumption that if you're a certain body size, you look after yourself, and if you're as, as, if, if, if you're in a larger body, you, you inherently don't. If you're in a larger body, you don't care about your health, you're lazy, you're not as bright. These things are all wrong, but that's what diet culture does, and at the moment, diet culture is booming.
Rena Annobil: Yes, it is.
Dr Anna Colton: Yeah, more than ever.
Rena Annobil: I mean, in my conversations with people in this room, you know, I talk about the wellness industry a- and just call people out really. The fact that the wellness industry, it, it's ... I love the fact that we have all this information now about what is good for us, right? Because when I was growing up, there wasn't that much information, and if there was, my parents didn't actually care that much.
So I was eating Findus Crispy Pancakes and y- drinking Sunny Delight to my heart's content, right? With joyful abandon. Okay? So I wouldn't do that to my kids 'cause I know better. It's, it's not the greatest thing for them to put in their body. But do you think that too much information is available now, and it's detrimental to us?
Dr Anna Colton: Well, I think too much information is available, and it's detrimental, but I also think that many, many, many, many of the wellness influencers are not trained or qualified. So the information- Mm ... is not rigorous. It's not accurate. It's not robust. You would've seen this week, possibly on the news, you know, the Sleep Fairy who has been-
Rena Annobil: Yes
Dr Anna Colton: you know, uh, called out as having no training and actually promoting something that increases cot death, the chances of cot death. It, it's shocking but not surprising, you know?
Rena Annobil: Yes.
Dr Anna Colton: And that's happening across wellness, across psychology. Anyone can call them, can, can call themselves a sleep consultant or a maternity nurse.
A nurse is not a protected title. Psychologist is not a protected title. Anyone can call themselves a psychologist. Anyone can call themselves a therapist.
Rena Annobil: That's actually quite scary, to be honest.
Dr Anna Colton: Terrifying.
Rena Annobil: So- I mean, with, with the ease of what it takes to film yourself on your phone and put that information out there-
Dr Anna Colton: Right
Rena Annobil: it ... And, and the, uh The lack of knowledge that people have, it's scary that these things are being put out into the world and people are watching them. 'Cause that Sleep Fairy lady had a lot of followers.
Dr Anna Colton: Right. Exactly. And it's across the board. Yeah. And people, we need to be helping our kids, and we need to be really critically curious of who is this person I'm following?
What do they actually know? And I'm not dissing lived experience. Is it lived experience, or is there also an evidence base behind it? Because lived experience is, is totally vali- valid and valuable and important, but lived experience is a sample size of one, and science is a sample size of thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, and that's the, a, a really, really important difference.
And so we need to be rigorous ourselves in who are we following and, and, and what is, what is, what is their training? What are their qualifications? What is their knowledge actually? And we need to be teaching our young people to do the same.
Rena Annobil: Yeah. So when it comes to influencers and influencers are, who are having a negative impact on our kids and even ourselves, um, I know that you've kind of given some approaches in this book, but what do you think good ways are to, to counteract all of that?
Dr Anna Colton: I think you have to start young. I know it sounds awful, but I think, you know, the moment that you see diet culture coming into your home via school or via other friends or, or my, my, you know, my friend's mommy says you, that sh- that sugar is really bad for you, um, you need to say, "Well, actually, in our, that's not what we believe here, and my, our view is that there's a place for everything."
Rena Annobil: Okay.
Dr Anna Colton: You know? For example, so you counteract it. You call it out when it comes home. The kids say, "Oh, I've, I've seen this at school." You say, "Oh, well, that's a diet culture belief, and this is what..." You know, you don't have to go really heavy on it, but you have to challenge it because otherwise what you're doing is you're becoming complicit in the acceptance of it- And I, for one, don't think we should be complicit in the acceptance that diet culture is a good thing.
I really don't. So with, with influencers, uh, you know, you say to your kids, "Who, who is she? Why do you, why do you like her or him?"
Rena Annobil: Mm. "
Dr Anna Colton: Why are you following?" Be curious, not judgemental or critical, because they'll just tell you to sod off, and they'll shut down. And they'll, you know, that'll be the end of your conversation.
But, "Oh, my gosh, so, so tell me, who is this person? What do you like about them? What is it they do? Show me." Watch it with them, and then little bit by little bit you can say, "Shall we have a look? You know, what's their background?"
Rena Annobil: Yeah.
Dr Anna Colton: Um, and help them to learn to critically think in a, in a kind of collaborative way, but, but you have to be on it, and, and really say, "These are the harms that can be caused- Mm
um, if you go down this path." Fitspo is another one, you know. Uh, boys or girls, uh, you know, there's, there's more of an issue, I think, with, with teenage boys at the moment, really wanting to bulk.
Rena Annobil: Protein.
Dr Anna Colton: Pro- well, there's protein.
Rena Annobil: The pressure to eat protein- And- ... even for me as, as a grown woman, is insane at the moment.
Dr Anna Colton: Yeah. The pressure to eat protein, the pressure to bulk, though. Mm. So to go to the gym and get muscles. Yes. Yeah. But actually pubertally, boys puberty is two years after girls puberty on average. So, you know, where a girl might go in between 9 and 11 at the very beginning, boys are 11 to 13. Mm. Often boys don't go through puberty until 15, 16, sometimes a bit earlier.
Their body isn't ready to be bulking. Yeah. It needs to be finishing that development. And yes, go to the gym and have a lovely social time, and enjoy it, and enjoy exercise, and make movement and exercise a part of your life. So good. Big fan of that. But, but the desire to, to sculpt your body in a certain way is, again, it's diet culture through a different lens.
And we have to, we have to be saying, "What is this? Why are you s- why are we signing up to this? Your body is just doing what your body needs to do at the moment." M- you know, there is, there is a real importance to movement and exercise. But sculpting? Mm-mm.
Rena Annobil: So, like, a l- a lot of us as, as parents, we are on our own health journey, and, you know, some of us are having these wake-up calls where, you know, we're being told, you know, "You're overweight, you need to lose weight."
Great, we should be looking after ourselves. But if then we need to adapt our eating habits at home, you know, we might need to be calorie counting and that kind of thing, we've been told, um, how are we, how are- I mean,
Dr Anna Colton: every fiber of my body
Rena Annobil: is rebelling-
Dr Anna Colton: Actually, I know your face ... against that phrase. I'm like- No one-
Rena Annobil: You went
needs to
Dr Anna Colton: calorie count.
Rena Annobil: I know. I saw your face. And also, in the, in the book, you know, there's a the- when you wrote the bit about diet culture, so I start that chapter thinking, "Oh, this doesn't affect me, diet culture. I'm not on a diet." And then r- reading that chapter, it was like, wow, you know, this is how I have been affected by diet culture over the years.
Calorie counting, a lot of people are doing it now. A lot of people are weighing food. Food is now a mathematical c- equation. A meal is a mathematical equation for many, many people.
Dr Anna Colton: I mean, I
Rena Annobil: Okay. So I mean, I know what you're gonna say. Absolutely not.
Dr Anna Colton: Well, look, I ca- I, I- that's the problem with this. There is nuance, and even I, even I know that if you are genuinely, if there's genuinely a problem, and for your health- Mm
you need to change what you're eating, and you need to tweak it, you're gonna need to do that. You know, I'm not gonna say, "Well, just throw all abandon to the wind and live on Pringles." That's a ridiculous idea. But I, I- we know that 95% of diets fail because they put you into a restriction. And when you get into restriction, what happens is you start to think about everything you can't eat, and your cravings for those foods go up And you become, you g- you develop what we, you know, the, the kind of the scarcity mindset, the deprivation mindset, where you feel you're being deprived.
So there's a lot of ... It's actually a really difficult thing. Calorie counting, unless you're gonna include all foods and say, "All foods are allowed, I'm just gonna count the calories," um, I don't agree with that either, 'cause counting calories means that you don't listen to your body at all. You use an outside equation to regulate how you're feeling.
Mm. Um, and it disconnects you from your body, and it leads actually to a much greater risk of binging- Oh ... because you're hungrier, and the number one cause of binging is hunger. So, you know, I don't wanna talk really terribly much about how to lose weight, because that's so not what I am, and not what I'm, not what I'm really- Mm
advocating at all. But if, if you do need to adapt your eating behavior for your health, you can do that within the context of your family in front of your children. It's how you talk about it and what behaviors you show. If you're always standing there measuring ... You know, if you're diabetic, you might have to weigh and measure.
That's very easy. I'm diabetic, and I'm not allowed ... You know, this is the, the maximum amount of carbohydrate I'm allowed, and, and therefore I, I measure it. Fine. That's, that's fine. Mm-hmm. It's, it's very clear. There's just nothing wrong with that at all, and, and you explain it in terms of, of, of the facts of, of the condition.
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm.
Dr Anna Colton: Fine. It's like allergies. Fine. You know? It's a medical thing. It's when you say, "Well, I, I, I, I'm getting fat, and I don't wanna get fat, so I now need to weigh and measure- Yeah ... because I mustn't eat more fat and I must eat more protein because my body is gonna look a certain way, or because I'm, you know, I'm not gonna be so acceptable."
That's the issue. You can actually do it without talking. You can just, you know, have a smaller portion that isn't tiny, but it's the same food as everyone else is eating, the same food that you'd put on the table for your family, and you sit and enjoy it, and you share mealtimes together, and it's not actually a thing.
And that's the point. Let's not make it the thing. Mm-hmm. Mealtimes need to be about connection and sharing and bonding and talking about whatever the hell you wanna talk about, whether it's your day or whether it's something ridiculous, it doesn't really matter. It's about being at the table together and coming together at the table, and if y- if that is the main purpose of a mealtime, and I know that sounds strange, 'cause everyone goes, "The main purpose of a mealtime is to eat the meal."
But actually, if you're thinking about how you help kids eat a meal and develop a good relationship with food and try new foods, if they feel really relaxed and comfortable, if they enjoy being there, if they associate it with pleasure and fun, they're more likely to wanna come back to the table. They're more likely to stay at the table for longer.
You al- You know, they, they, they will watch you eating all sorts of foods that they may not like. Bit by bit, they'll get there.
Rena Annobil: And is that the advice that you would give to people who have kids that are picky eaters?
Dr Anna Colton: Yes. In a nutshell, yes Mm-hmm Uh, there are all sorts of things that you might need to do with your picky eater.
But yes, they, you know, just... You, you might need to separate foods for a picky eater if they're very, if there's some sens- sensory stuff where, you know, they don't like their foods touching, you can separate them. So the advice is always, and this goes back to division of responsibility again, you put it on the table.
Ideally, you put lots of different dishes on the table. So you might put the peas in one bowl, and the, and the pasta in another bowl, and the, uh, potatoes in another, and the salad in another, and the, the meatballs in another, and the sauce in another, right? And then you can all serve yourself from the bowls on the table.
Now, what's brilliant about that is kids see different people taking different foods, combining it on their plates or not. They learn to serve themselves, so there's motor skills advanced. Mm-hmm. They learn to kind of assess what they might want to eat for their hunger. They have responsibility. It gives a sense of autonomy, and they're much more likely just to kind of try something than if they're presented with a plate of food- Mm
um, that's all put together, and it causes them anxiety.
Rena Annobil: Yeah. I mean, that sounds like a, a wonderful way to, to have a family meal anyway, and it's just to be really relaxed. Um, so that term healthy eating, though, from a, a psychology perspective, what, what does that mean to you, healthy eating?
Dr Anna Colton: Uh, for me, that is diet culture trope because healthy is code for good.
So, you know, I don't mind a healthy, balanced diet. I think that's different because that's talking about balance across a whole intake.
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm.
Dr Anna Colton: Healthy eating, what is that? Um, so I would rather we talk about, you know, a healthy, balanced diet than healthy eating. But I know what I think people mean, which is usually, you know, lots of fruit and veg- Mm-hmm
lots of different colored fruit and veg, not too much of this, that, and the other. But I think it can become prescriptive and, and quite obsessive very quickly, and I think it morphs into good and bad foods, right and wrong ways to eat in the blink of an eye, and that's really the opposite of what I would advocate and what I think is, is actually healthy for our overall relationship with food.
Because ultimately-
If you know that you can trust your body, that some days you will go to a birthday, or you'll go out for a meal, and you might eat a little bit more, but it- the next day you might eat a little bit less. And actually, you realize that nutrition is, is over months and years, not meal specific. And you, you realize that actually it all just, it, it just regulates, and you can regulate, and you don't feel deprived, and you don't deprive yourself, and you don't end up binging, and you don't end up starving.
That's what you wanna be.
Rena Annobil: I mean, it sounds like we have forgotten to listen to our bodies in a way.
Dr Anna Colton: Totally. We, well, we, it's not even that we've forgotten. We are taught not to.
Rena Annobil: But some parents might be watching or listening to this, and even people who aren't parents and think, "Well, if I listen to my body, or if I let my kids make up their own mind about things, and don't say things like, 'Finish all your broccoli before you can have dessert,' then they're just gonna go straight to eating biscuits, and that's gonna be their dinner, and they won't be interested in anything else- Well-
and you want them to have a balanced-"
Dr Anna Colton: Depending on the age of the kids, you don't have to give them biscuits. That's division of responsibility. Why are you giving them biscuits for dinner? You don't need to do that.
Rena Annobil: In terms of if they're in the house, if you have things like that in the house. You
Dr Anna Colton: have, you
Rena Annobil: have res- Or is that the thing?
Don't have them in the house.
Dr Anna Colton: Well, it's not a do or a don't. The thing is, you have responsibility as a parent for what you buy and what you bring into your home. Your child doesn't go to the supermarket and do the shopping. Your child doesn't sit online and order it in. That's you. So it really depends what do you wanna bring into your home.
Now, in my house, there is literally everything pretty much. Um, uh, so I, I don't say don't have it in, but I do say you can't expect to have all those foods in and for your child not to want to eat them sometimes. Mm. So if you have Weetabix and Coco Pops and porridge oats in your cupboard, your children will sometimes wanna eat the Coco Pops.
If you don't want to meet them to eat the Coco Pops, don't buy the Coco Pops. So-
Rena Annobil: Sure ...
Dr Anna Colton: you know, be mindful of what you bring in, and remember, you have responsibility for what is offered at meals And yes, you do want them to eat the broccoli, but you don't want the broccoli to become, you know, when you started the, the intro with, you know, eat your broccoli.
Um, we want them to know and to eat it, but if it becomes eat your broccoli and then you get your ice cream, what you've done immediately is set up a food hierarchy where broccoli is less desirable than ice cream. That's literally the opposite to what you wanna do. Sure. You want them to go, "I really like my broccoli."
Rena Annobil: Mm.
Dr Anna Colton: So then broccoli is just a part and parcel of a meal, and you sit there and you go, "Isn't this delicious?" And maybe sometimes it has some seasoning on it, and maybe it doesn't. Mm. And, and it's just a thing, and sometimes they'll eat more broccoli, and sometimes they really won't like it. Like, we do all have preferences, and that is okay.
And it's, you know, is there enough veg that they like?
Rena Annobil: Mm.
Dr Anna Colton: Okay, great. And is it over the course of a day? Great. So I think we can get really caught up in this, and we need to broaden, broaden our perspectives a little bit to, to whole, to whole days or whole weeks of, of, of intake and not get hung up on, on certain bits of food.
And, and realize that we often set them up not to like it. They are not born ... When you think about weaning your kids, they ... I imagine they didn't spit out all the veg when you first offered it to them- Mm ... and only eat the fruit. That's just not what happens, is it? They like some, they don't like other. The
You know, one of mine will never, has never, ever liked banana to a completely visceral thing. It's been from weaning. Never, ever. Still doesn't. Um, and never, I think, will. Okay. That's a, that's a really strong preference. That's what it is,
Rena Annobil: yeah. And that's
Dr Anna Colton: okay. Mm. We all have that. So I, I think we set them up, often, not to like- The veg or the food that we are keen they eat
Rena Annobil: Mm.
Weirdly, my three kids all love broccoli. It's just me that doesn't like it, weirdly.
Dr Anna Colton: So all my kids- ... again, love broccoli, and actually I'm, I'm lucky. Lots of fruit and veg goes down.
Rena Annobil: That's good.
Dr Anna Colton: But, you know.
Rena Annobil: Um, if someone is worried about a loved one in their family, um, when it comes to, uh, issues with eating, what are some of the warning signs?
When should we be worried about someone?
Dr Anna Colton: If you're worried, that's a warning sign, I think. You know- Yeah ... the fact that you're worried, you've noticed something. You might wanna sit down and go, "What is it I've noticed? What is it that's making me worried?" But if you're worried, there's a warning sign. The, the, the kind of the, the, the classic warning signs are noticing that someone is cutting out food groups c- or refusing, never having dessert, uh, talking about food in a way that actually...
And this is on the restrictive side. We'll go to the other side too. Uh, talking about, you know, food in a, in a way where it is very highly good and bad, where there's kind of fear around food, 'cause you really don't want fear around food. They're very frightened if they eat something that, that something bad will happen to them or their body or, um.
If you, if you notice food disappearing, like whole packets of something or loaves of bread disappearing in your cupboards, um, if people disappear to the toilet after every single meal without failure, um, and they're there for quite a long time, you might wanna be curious what's going on. Sometimes you can see, uh, bits of vomit in the toilet bowl.
Sometimes, um, you can notice they, you know, they, they're not looking well. Either way, whatever way, they're not looking well. Um, if there's a lot of distress around food and eating, um, these are all signs. A lack of periods. If periods start to become, if you've got a, a daugh- a daughter and periods start to become lighter and you've noticed some weight loss, you know.
As I say, periods stop when we lose too much weight.
Rena Annobil: Mm.
Dr Anna Colton: So you know the period, a period is a really good indicator- It's a good indicator ... with weight loss. If someone is gaining an enormous amount of weight, um, at a, at a speed that is extraordinary, then you know there's a warning sign. You know, what's happening?
If someone is using food to manage their feelings, you know, to a great degree, again, but you'll know. How, what is the best way to broach that subject with somebody and, and the first point of call when it comes to getting help? GP. Always go to your GP.
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm.
Dr Anna Colton: Uh, eating disorder services in this country now are, it's, it's really, really difficult.
Um, but go to your GP even if only to get baseline bloods and measurements, but you want those baseline measurements. The best way to approach someone really depends on who that someone is. Um, but again, it's being curious. Is every- you know, "You don't quite seem yourself. Are you all right? What's going on?
I'm concerned." You know, do it from a place of compassion and concern, and whether how much you actually articulate what you've noticed, but you can just say, "Look, I've really noticed that you're seeming quite lethargic. You're, you're, you're looking a bit pale. You don't seem yourself," or, "I've noticed that, you know, you seem quite anxious around food or at mealtimes, and you seem to be cutting out food groups.
What's happening here?" Whatever it may be, you can very gently say. Mm-hmm. Just make an observation and check in.
Rena Annobil: Okay, and there's, there's loads of good, um, places to go for support that you put in your book as well.
Dr Anna Colton: Yep, loads in my book. There's loads on literally all of this on, in my book, how, how to have difficult- Yeah
conversations, um, what you can say. Um, because one of the things I'm often asked is, how do you say no and remain non-judgmental and neutral? And there's loads of that in there, you know?
Rena Annobil: Mm-hmm.
Dr Anna Colton: That's all there is for now. There'll be more tomorrow. There's no. No, we're not having any more t- no, we're not having ice cream today.
No, there's no cake today. Um, there'll be some later in the week, but I've got this if you're still hungry.
Rena Annobil: Okay.
Dr Anna Colton: It's okay to say no. Um, and it's okay to say yes. Um, it's how. Mm-hmm. The whole thing is about how you say what you say.
Rena Annobil: And if there's one piece of advice that you could give to parents raising children today in this confusing world, what would that be?
Dr Anna Colton: Try not to listen to all of the noise and focus on helping your kids to listen to their bodies and enjoy being at the table. Okay. And, and relax around the wrongs and the rights and the goods and the bads, because actually that's what gets you in trouble. Probably that briefer, briefer nugget is quite hard to do, but yes, everything we've really talked about.
Rena Annobil: Yeah. This has been such a insightful conversation, uh, very thought-provoking. Thank you so much for coming in. And of course, you know, your book, your book is available to anyone who wants to, uh, learn more about the things that we have, uh, spoken about. Um, we usually end with a lifestyle prescription on this podcast, as it's called The Lifestyle Prescription, so I just wanted to ask you, is there a lifestyle prescription that you want to share with listeners and viewers?
Something, however big or small, that you have started doing that has made a difference to your own wellbeing?
Dr Anna Colton: Finding more joy. Finding more joy in life and doing things that bring you pleasure. For me, that is probably, um, you know, for me, there'd be- dancing will be in there somewhere 'cause I just love it.
I'm not very good, but I love it. And with food, find the joy in food, where there's too much noise, there's too much right and wrong and shoulds and oughts. Mm-hmm. So just do one thing a day that is joyful around food.
Rena Annobil: Yep. Finding joy. Yeah. Finding joy. We need more of that. We need more of that, for sure.
Dr Anna Colton: Yeah.
Rena Annobil: Uh, so thank you so much, Dr. Anna.
Dr Anna Colton: Thank
Rena Annobil: you so much for having
Dr Anna Colton: me. Wonderful having you on. I've really enjoyed it.
Rena Annobil: Um, and thank you so much for watching. Thank you so much for listening. Please do share this episode with someone that you think might benefit from watching it, and please do share, like, and subscribe to The Lifestyle Prescription on Pharmacy Planet.
