Body Image, Eating Disorders & Raising Kids in a Sneaky Diet‑Culture World with Dr. Lauren Hartman

In this powerful and reassuring episode, Marijo sits down with Dr. Lauren Hartman — one of fewer than 1,000 adolescent‑medicine specialists in the U.S., pediatrician, and author of the March 2026 release “Freeing Children and Young Adults from Shame, Scales, and Stigma: A Practical Guide for Parents, Teachers and Clinicians”

Dr. Hartman brings decades of clinical experience working with children and teens with eating disorders, and she offers parents of young children practical, compassionate guidance to help prevent body‑image struggles before they start.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

·        🌱 It’s NOT your fault.

Dr. Hartman emphasizes that parents do not cause eating disorders — and why releasing that guilt is essential for supporting kids.

·        🌱 How eating disorders really develop.

They’re multifactorial and rarely look just one way.

·        🌱 Why the way we talk about our own bodies matters.

Kids absorb everything. Dr. Hartman shares simple shifts in language that build resilience and body respect.

·        🌱 Food without fear.

How to remove morality from food (“good” vs. “bad”), bring joy back to meals, and model a healthy relationship with nourishment.

·        🌱 Movement as celebration, not punishment.

Reframing exercise as strength, stress relief, and gratitude — not compensation for eating.

·        🌱 Social media’s influence — and how to help kids think critically.

Dr. Hartman explains why young brains are especially vulnerable and offers questions parents can teach kids to ask when consuming online content.

·        🌱 Understanding growth charts.

Why percentiles aren’t a “report card,” what healthy growth really looks like, and why trying to manipulate a child’s natural curve can backfire.

·        🌱 The importance of regular meals (especially breakfast).

Adolescents, especially, need consistent nourishment — often every three hours — to support their rapidly developing brains and bodies.

·        🌱 Early signs of eating‑disorder risk.

Behavior changes show up before weight changes. Dr. Hartman outlines what to watch for and why trusting your gut matters.

·        🌱 Why repair is powerful.

If you’ve said things you regret about your body or your child’s, it’s not too late. Modeling apology and growth is a gift to your kids.

Dr. Hartman mentioned the Rabbit Effect study about kindness - here's the AI blurb if you google this: 

The "Rabbit Effect" refers to a classic 1970s study where researchers testing high-fat diets on rabbits found one group healthier than expected, discovering a kind post-doc who petted and spoke to them, revealing kindness's profound impact on health, a concept popularized by Dr. Kelli Harding's book, The Rabbit Effect, showing social connection (love, purpose, community) matters more for well-being than just medical care, impacting us like genetics. 

About Dr. Lauren Hartman

Dr. Hartman is a double board-certified specialist in Adolescent Medicine and Pediatrics, focusing on patient-centered care. Her training includes medical school at the University of Virginia, a pediatric residency at Brown University, and an Adolescent Medicine Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.

She has held leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, the East Bay pediatric eating disorder program, and Equip. Dr. Hartman also co-developed programs for gender-expansive youth and pediatric autonomic disorders.

With over a decade of practice, she specializes in adolescent medicine, particularly eating disorders, across various settings. She is an active member of SAHM, AED, and AWSIM, serving on SAHM's Eating Disorder Committee and ACCMA's legislative and community health committees. She lives in the Bay Area with her family.

Her book “Freeing Children and Young Adults from Shame, Scales, and Stigma: A Practical Guide for Parents, Teachers and Clinicians” releases March 11, 2026, and will be available wherever books are sold.

Find her at:
Website: AspenGroveAYAM.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenhartmanmd/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-hartman-b4bab9a0/

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