Tips for Navigating Weight Loss Conversations with Your Pediatrician

Jessica Setnick, MS, RD, CEDS-S has outlined some examples of how to speak with your child's pediatrician regarding their weight, and how to go about such conversations with confidence.
Follow this link to watch her short 1-minute tutorials.


A Guide to Weight-Loss Conversations with Your Pediatrician

  1. Before you start, request to have weight-related discussions alone with your pediatrician, without your child present.

  2. Ask if the pediatrician has assessed if the weight change in question is rapid/abnormal compared to their previous growth rates, and may be attributed to other medical conditions at play. 

  3. If your pediatrician recommends weight loss for your child, ask the following questions: 
    "Are you saying that my child has a specific medical condition, or are you just referring to my child's size? If this is about a medical condition, I would be open to hear what treatments you recommend other than weight loss.
    If this is just about my child's size, then this is not a conversation I want to participate in." 

  4. If your pediatrician continues to recommend weight loss as an intervention as a treatment for said medical treatment, ask....
    "Are there thin children with this same medical condition? What treatment do you recommend for them? I'd like to have a referral to a specialist please." 

  5. If the doctor says, no your child doesn’t have a medical condition, but they will if things don’t change, say this:

    "I have learned that predicting future problems based on size or weight alone is the definition of fatphobia. We don’t participate in that in our home. If my child’s growth seems abnormal compared to their previous growth, I am open to meeting a dietitian for further investigation. Please make arrangements with my insurance to cover that."

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