Episode 34 – Dr Jackie Shiels is back: How to Talk About Food and Bodies with Your Kids
Release Date: 06/03/2025
Plateful Parenting Podcast
In Episode 45, Christine sits down for a deeply personal and moving conversation with Jane Lee — community leader, advocate, and proud Korean American — to explore how culture, identity, and family dynamics shape our earliest experiences with food and body image. Jane shares powerful reflections from her childhood as a Korean immigrant growing up in the Midwest, navigating the contrast between traditional Korean food culture and American diet messaging, and how comments about her size, appetite, and appearance influenced her relationship with her body throughout adolescence and adulthood....
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In Episode 44, Christine and Chanel sit down with Alex Caspero, RD of Plant-Based Juniors — one of the most trusted, evidence-based resources for parents who want to raise plant-forward kids without shame, rigidity, or overwhelm. Alex brings a deeply practical, accessible, non-dogmatic approach to feeding kids more plants — and this conversation is packed with tools for calm mealtimes, picky eating, body neutrality, and supporting kids in eating disorder recovery. We explore: ✨ What “predominantly plant-based” really means (hint: it doesn’t mean vegan or restrictive) ✨ How to...
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In Episode 43, Christine and Chanel sit down with Dr. Alexis Conason—clinical psychologist, eating disorder specialist, and author of The Diet-Free Revolution—for a powerful, compassionate conversation about breaking generational cycles of food and body shame. Together, we explore: ✨ How to raise kids with body trust while you’re still healing your own ✨ What to say when your teen says, “I feel fat” ✨ How to manage parent anxiety when a child says they’re “full” after just a few bites ✨ Mindful eating vs. intuitive eating—what’s the real difference? ✨ The...
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🎙 Episode 42 — GLP-1s, Body Autonomy & the Intuitive Eating Legacy with Evelyn Tribole In this powerful follow-up conversation, Chanel is joined once again by Intuitive Eating co-founder and trailblazer Evelyn Tribole. Together, they unpack the current wave of GLP-1 medications—including Ozempic and Wegovy—and explore how these drugs intersect with body image, nutrition culture, and the core tenets of intuitive eating. This episode isn't just a hot take on a trend. It's a deep dive into bodily autonomy, health equity, and what it means to reclaim trust in your body in a world that...
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Season 2, Episode 6 of The Plateful Parenting Podcast With Christine Heller & Chanel Kenner, RD Guest: Dawn Smith-Theodore, LMFT | Author of Mother, Men & Me and Tutu Thin In this powerful continuation of our conversation with therapist, author, and former professional dancer Dawn Smith-Theodore, we explore how generational patterns, perfectionism, and secrecy shape our children’s relationships with food, body, and identity. Dawn opens up about her new memoir Mother, Men & Me: A Memoir of Anxiety, Anorexia, and Affairs—and the courage it took to revisit her past in order to...
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In this episode of Plateful Parenting, Chanel Kenner, RD and Christine Heller sit down with Dennis Bulani, farmer and author of What a Farmer Wants You to Know About Food. Together, they unpack one of the most overlooked aspects of how families relate to food—where it actually comes from. From his boots-on-the-ground perspective, Dennis walks us through the disconnect between modern food marketing and real-life farming. We talk about: The myths about “big ag” and what terms like “organic,” “natural,” and “non-GMO” actually mean The rise of fear-based food messaging and...
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Episode 39 — Beyond Wellness: What Actually Builds Body Trust in Our Kids (Part 2) Hosts: Chanel Kenner, RD & Christine Heller 🎧 Season 2, Episode 3 In Part 2 of our deep dive into body trust, we unpack the modern “wellness” culture our kids are growing up in—because it’s no longer just about what’s said at the dinner table. From “clean eating” to weight-loss injectables to viral “SkinnyTok” trends, today’s kids are swimming in messages that make it harder to trust their bodies. We explore: 🔹 The rebranding of diet culture as wellness 🔹 The cultural messaging...
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Season 2, Episode 4 of The Plateful Parenting Podcast With Christine Heller & Chanel Kenner, RD Guest: Morgan Gallo, comedian, advocate & host of My Body, My Jokes What happens when recovery challenges your career, your identity, and everything you thought you wanted? In this powerful and honest conversation, Christine and Chanel sit down with Morgan Gallo—actor, dancer, and former touring comedian—to talk about her recovery from a 15-year eating disorder, the impact of growing up with body-shaming messaging, and how she's learning to prioritize peace over performance. From...
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What do Lord Byron’s vinegar-soaked potatoes, 1920s cigarette diets, and SlimFast commercials have in common? They all shaped the way we think about food, bodies, and “health”—and their echoes are still showing up in how our kids are fed and talked to today. In this first of a two-part series, Christine and Chanel take a whirlwind (and eye-opening) tour through diet culture across the decades, exposing how binge-restrict cycles, body trends, and the language of “wellness” have been carefully marketed—and dangerously recycled. ⏳ In this episode: Lord Byron and the...
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“Why would they say that?” “Should I say something to the school?” “What if it changes how my child sees themselves?” In this episode, Christine and Chanel unpack one of the most painful (and common) experiences for families navigating disordered eating and body image issues: body bullying. Whether it’s teasing about weight, comments about a lunchbox, or exclusion from sports—body-based bullying leaves lasting scars. This conversation offers validation, practical scripts, and expert-backed tools to help you respond with calm, compassion, and confidence. 🔍 In this episode: ...
info_outline🎙️ Season 1 Finale with Dr. Jackie Shiels
In the final episode of Season 1, Christine Santucci and Chanel Kenner, RD, welcome back clinical psychologist and fan-favorite Dr. Jackie Shiels for an honest, compassionate, and laughter-filled conversation about something we all grapple with: the words we use around food and bodies.
Together, we unpack the everyday language that can shape a child’s relationship with food—for better or worse. From common “harmless” phrases like “You’ve lost weight!” or “Do you really need more?” to more subtle messaging around “healthy” vs “unhealthy” food, this episode offers real-life, non-judgmental guidance on how to model body-neutral, weight-neutral language at home.
We also tackle:
🍽️ How to unpair food from morality
📱 What to say (and not say) when your kid brings up weight/food/body topics or questions
🧠 The difference between “head hunger” and “stomach hunger”
👚 Red flags to look out for
💬 What repair looks like when parents slip up—and how to course correct with love
With real-world examples, easy swaps, and some humor as always, this episode is your gentle reminder that parenting in a body-obsessed world is hard—and language matters.
Resources Mentioned:
• Dr. Jackie Shiels
• Hunger & Craving Rating Tools
• Season 1 Episodes 1–33 available on Spotify & Apple
Thank you for listening to Season 1 of Plateful Parenting! We’re honored to be in your ears. Stay tuned for updates on Season 2.
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